It was found that 80 Airbus A320-family aircraft, which are undergoing a large-scale recall due to a flight control software defect, are also operating in Korea. However, mass cancellations or delays of flights are not expected due to this issue.
About 40 aircraft in domestic operation require a software update, and more than half of them have already been addressed. The remaining aircraft are expected to complete the update by the early morning of the 30th.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the airline industry on the 29th, six domestic carriers operate the A320 family: Korean Air (18), Asiana Airlines (24), AIR BUSAN (21), AIR SEOUL (6), Aero K (9), and Parata Air (2). Among these, 42 aircraft—A320-200, A321-200, and A321-200neo—are included in this recall.
By airline, the aircraft subject to recall are ▲Korean Air 10 ▲Asiana Airlines 17 ▲AIR BUSAN 11 ▲Aero K 3 ▲AIR SEOUL 1, while Parata Air's aircraft are unrelated to this action.
The problematic software can be updated from the cockpit in about an hour, and among the models introduced domestically, there are no older variants that require hours-long hardware replacement.
Immediately after Airbus announced the recall measures, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) ordered domestic airlines to carry out the update, and Airbus also notified each airline. MOLIT expects that, with the swift response, operational disruptions will be limited.
According to MOLIT and the airline industry, as of noon that day, 28 of the 42 aircraft (about 67%) had completed the update. Korean Air finished work on 5 of 10 aircraft, Asiana on 8 of 17, and AIR BUSAN, AIR SEOUL, and Aero K completed all required measures by that morning. As the time required is less than one hour per aircraft, the remainder will be finished before the first flights on the 30th, MOLIT said.
MOLIT said, "Under the principle that safety comes first, we are monitoring each flag carrier's progress in real time and will respond immediately if large-scale delays or operational disruptions occur."
Meanwhile, the previous day, Airbus ordered a global recall after confirming "a software anomaly that could seriously affect flight safety, including rapid descents" in A320-family aircraft. The issue emerged during an investigation into a case last month in which a JetBlue A320 that departed Cancun, Mexico, made an emergency landing due to an error in the elevator/aileron computer (ELAC).
When the investigation determined that strong solar radiation affected the ELAC, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) sent an urgent notice to countries to replace or modify the software by 8:59 a.m. on the 30th (Korea time).
About 11,300 A320-family aircraft are in operation worldwide. The Air France-KLM group canceled 35 flights on the 28th (local time), and cancellations and delays are occurring in several countries.