Flight cancellations and departure delays occurred around the world after a major recall order was issued because a software abnormality that could cause a dangerous nosedive was found in the Airbus A320 family, the company's flagship model with more than 10,000 planes flying worldwide.
According to Reuters on the 28th (local time), Air France-KLM canceled 35 flights departing that day after Airbus notified the company of the recall.
Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, operated by Air France-KLM, are airlines that many Koreans use when traveling to Europe.
Lufthansa also said it expects some cancellations and delays this weekend because it will take several hours per aircraft to carry out the software replacement and fixes ordered by Airbus.
Air New Zealand said all of its A320neo jets are scheduled to receive a software update before their next flights, and it expects widespread disruption and some cancellations on Saturday the 29th.
American Airlines, which operates the most A320 family aircraft in the world, disclosed that 340 of its 480 A320 family jets are subject to the recall.
American Airlines said it takes two hours per aircraft to complete the required measures and most software updates are expected to be finished by the 29th. Airlines including Air India, easyJet and Volaris also expected some disruptions to operations due to the recall.
For some airlines that lack the capacity to conduct intensive short-term maintenance or that operate older models requiring hardware replacement rather than a software update, the fallout from this recall could last relatively longer.
Colombian carrier Avianca said the recall affects more than 70% of its fleet, making severe operational disruptions unavoidable for the next 10 days, and suspended ticket sales through Dec. 8.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which use relatively fewer A320 family jets, said the impact from this situation is nonexistent or limited.
Earlier, the A320 family was made subject to a recall after an investigation found that a flight control software error could cause a dangerous nosedive.
Under an emergency directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the aircraft must replace or modify the faulty software before they can fly again.
About 11,300 A320 family jets are in service worldwide. However, Airbus did not specify the size of the affected fleet in its recall announcement. Reuters reported that around 6,000 planes are subject to the recall.
Bloomberg, citing aviation industry officials, also reported that while many A320 family jets can fix the issue quickly through a simple cockpit update, about 1,000 older models will require actual hardware replacement and could be removed from service during maintenance.