Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has announced that a large part of the global A320 family aircraft fleet requires an urgent software update.

For this reason, according to the company Avianca Group, these aircraft must be grounded when they arrive at their maintenance bases until the work has been carried out.

In the case of this company,this order affects more than 70% of its fleet, according to a press release issued by the airline.

According to the airline, although it will immediately begin working on the modifications required by the manufacturer,significant disruptions to operations will inevitably occur over the next 10 days.

In this regard, Avianca stated that ticket sales were suspended this Friday until December 8th - inclusive -to avoid a greater impact and to be able to rebook passengers on available flights.

"The airline will notify affected passengers directly and inform them of the available options so they can adjust their travel plans. Avianca's priority is to ensure the safety of our passengers and crew," the company stated.

He added that he will make the modifications required by the aircraft manufacturer as soon as possible in order to resume operations and minimize disruptions to service.

However, sources in the aeronautical sector compare the impact to that experienced during the 2020 pandemic, given that there are 8,000 Airbus 320 aircraft worldwide, of which 6,500 require software updates.

Airbus will replace flight schedule on half of its A320s

The European aircraft manufacturer announced on Friday that it detected an incident in a flight control program of its A320 family, caused by exposure to sunlight, affecting more than half of the aircraft in its best-selling family.

In a statement, the manufacturer says the problem could affect"a significant number of A320 family aircraft", but various industry sources put the figure at around 6,000.

An airline spokesperson told EFE that 85% of the affected aircraft will only require a minor computer change that will take hardly any time, and will not significantly affect their flight schedules.

For the remaining 15%, a more extensive intervention will be necessary, which will require more time and in some cases also a change of equipment, although he could not specify the impact it will have on his service.

"We are working with our customers and suppliers to limit the consequences of this incident," the spokeswoman said.

The problem was highlighted by the analysis of a recent incident that affected one of the aircraft in that fleet and which"has revealed that intense solar radiation can corrupt data essential to the operation of flight controls," Airbus said, without giving further details.