DGCA Directs Airlines Not To Operate Airbus A320 Models Until Completion Of Software Updates

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Saturday, issued a mandatory safety directive for Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, directing airlines to carry out specified inspections and modifications before operating affected planes after Airbus reported a malfunction.

The directive comes after an alert from the multinational aerospace company, which suggested that up to 6,000 active A320 aircraft may require upgrades. IndiGo and Air India are among the Indian airlines expected to experience operational disruptions.

According to the DGCA notification, no person is allowed to operate the listed aircraft model unless they comply with the Mandatory Modification and relevant Airworthiness Directives. The regulator said, “Inspection and/or modification on the following subject is mandatory. Please make necessary amendment in the below-mentioned Mandatory Modification List".

It further added, "This is to be ensured that no person shall operate the product which falls under the applicability of this Mandatory Modification except those which are in accordance with the compliance to requirement of Mandatory Modification(s) and applicable Airworthiness Directive(s).”

Airbus said in its official statement that an intense solar radiation could corrupt data vital to flight controls in a significant number of A320 family aircraft, and that the necessary software updates to address the issue would cause operational disruptions across the globe.

"Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) This is in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly," it added.

Nearly 340 aircrafts have been impacted by this update. Indian operators have around 560 A320 family aircraft, which will need software updates or hardware adjustments. The affected jets are expected to be grounded briefly for the fix, a move likely to cause some operational disruption.

The A320 family aircraft operated by Indian airlines require the software upgrade to address the potential issue related to flight controls and modifications have been carried out in more than half of the affected fleet, according to DGCA data.

Sources told news agency PTI that there are no flight cancellations but there are delays in the range of 60-90 minutes for some flights as the software updates are being carried out for the affected planes.

The software upgrades have been completed for 189 A320 family planes out of the total 338 aircraft, as per the data available with the DGCA till 10 am on November 29. The software upgrades on all the affected planes are to be completed by 5:29 am on November 30.

IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express operate A320 family planes, which include A320 ceos and neos, A321 ceos and neos. India is among the largest markets for Airbus’ A320 series, with IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express together operating around 560 aircraft.