Airbus orders emergency A320 safety update, warns of global disruptions

Commercial aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has requested immediate modifications to thousands of its A320-family planes, saying flights will be disrupted.

Airbus gave this warning after discovering that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls, adding that 6,000 planes could be affected.

Airlines across the world have begun disclosing their exposure to the development.

American Airlines said 340 of its planes were affected, adding it expected “some operational delays” but that most updates should be completed by Friday or Saturday. Delta Airlines said the impact on its operations would be limited.

In Australia, Jetstar cancelled 90 flights after confirming that about one-third of its fleet was affected.

The airline warned that disruption would continue into the weekend, despite most aircraft already receiving the update.