UAE airlines complete A320 safety updates

AIRBUS DIRECTIVE DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE LARGEST CORRECTIVE ACTIONS IN ITS 55-YEAR HISTORY

- BY LEKSHMY PAVITHRAN Assistant Online Editor BALARAM MENON Senior Web Editor

UAE airlines have finished installing mandatory Airbus A320 software and hardware updates, allowing flight schedules to return to normal after global regulators ordered immediate fixes to a flight-control computer used across one of the world's most common jet families.

The directive described by Airbus as one of the largest corrective actions in its 55-year history affects more than half of the global A320 fleet, a family of aircraft that recently overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered commercial jet in history.

The EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD), issued on November 29, followed the manufacturer's identification of a vulnerability linked to intense solar radiation affecting the aircraft's Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC).