Dec. 1 at 8:49 PM
Colombian airline Avianca has updated the software on nearly 90% of its A320s affected by a fault detected by Airbus, which grounded over 70% of its fleet last Friday, impacting more than 35,000 passengers.
Avianca, part of Grupo Abra and a leader in Colombia, Ecuador, and Central America, moved up ticket sales from December 8 to 5 thanks to rapid software delivery from France and progress on Airbus-required updates.
The issue arose after a JetBlue A320 experienced an emergency landing on October 30 due to high solar radiation affecting its control systems. Over 6,000 A320s were impacted globally, though most only required software updates. Initial reports suggested deeper maintenance for 1,000 planes, later reduced to about 100, according to French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.
Avianca’s network, with 140 A320s, over 150 routes, and 700 daily flights, saw 233 flights affected and 35,708 passengers disrupted, including 29,881 in Colombia.
$AVH $AIR