Airbus A320 aircraft Photo: VCG

 

As of November 30, 2025, all A320 family aircraft in the Chinese civil aviation fleet that were required by aviation authorities and Airbus to undergo precautionary measures have completed the relevant work in accordance with the applicable airworthiness directives and Airbus technical documents, Airbus China said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Monday. 

All flights conducted by in-serviced A320 family aircraft are operating as scheduled, the statement added. 

The announcement came after the European aircraft manufacturer said on Friday that analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted, and requested immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection.

Airbus China said in the statement on Monday that regarding the status of the deployment of these measures across the global fleet, out of a total number of around 6,000 aircraft potentially impacted, the vast majority have now received the necessary modifications. 

Airbus said it is working with airline customers to support the modification of less than 100 remaining aircraft to ensure they can be returned to service. 

The company also apologized for any challenges and delays caused to passengers and airlines by this event. 

There are around 11,300 A32 family jets in operation, including 6,440 of the core A320 model, which first flew in 1987. Four of the world's 10 biggest A320 family operators are major US airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United Airlines. Chinese, European and Indian carriers are also among the jet's biggest customers, according to Reuters on Saturday. 

The report said the world's largest A320 operator, American Airlines, said some 340 of its 480 A320 aircraft would need the fix. It said it mostly expected these to be completed by Saturday, with about two hours required for each plane.

According to data released by Flight Master, as of the end of November, the A320 family fleet comprised a total of 2,015 aircraft, accounting for 48.3 percent of the total civil aviation passenger aircraft in Chinese mainland. This fleet is distributed among 24 airlines.

Among them, China Eastern Airlines operates 395 aircraft, while China Southern Airlines and Air China operate 349 and 216 aircraft respectively, the data showed. 

Global Times