Airbus A320 recall disrupts Asian travel as carriers scramble to patch software
Asian airlines scrambled on Saturday to fix a software glitch on their Airbus A320 jets as a sweeping recall by the European planemaker grounded aircraft across the region after disrupting travel in the U.S. during the busiest weekend of the year.
The recall of 6,000 planes covers more than half of Airbus’ AIR.PA global A320 family fleet, the backbone of Asian short-haul aviation, particularly in China and India where economic growth has brought millions of new travellers into the skies.
Regulators around the world followed the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in directing their carriers to remedy the A320 software problem before resuming flights.
The Airbus recall, issued to 350 operators around the world, appears to be one of the biggest in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model.
