Thousands of planes from Airbus’s widely-used A320 family have been ordered for repairs following a software issue.

The aircraft manufacturer is carrying out software updates for 6,000 of its jets – around half the global fleet – threatening travel disruption for airline passengers.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said it expects some disruptions to airlines and flights, with easyJet and Wizz Air saying they will take some planes briefly out of service to do the repairs.

But why have airlines been told to carry out a software update for the planes, and how is solar radiation involved?

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What triggered the repair order?

It is understood the incident that triggered the unexpected repair order involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on 30 October.

The flight suffered a control problem and a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude, basically a sharp loss of height, which left 15 passengers with injuries and forced the flight to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida.

After investigating the incident, Airbus said “intense solar radiation” may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

The issue is known as bit flip, where solar radiation can strike a computer’s memory, changing its data from a 0 to a 1 and vice versa – a risk which also affects spacecraft.

Read more: Which airlines are affected by Airbus disruption?

‘Very concerning’ – but ‘very low likelihood’ of such an event

The situation was “very concerning”, travel expert Simon Calder told Sky News presenter Gillian Joseph.

However, he said there was a “very low likelihood” of such an event happening, adding: “In aviation, nothing is taken for granted.”

He said: “Aviation remains extraordinarily safe. And that is partly because as soon as a possible threat is identified, then action is taken immediately.”

What is the fix?

The fix involves reverting to earlier software, but must be carried out before the planes can fly again, according to a bulletin to airlines.

Airbus said for most of the affected aircraft, the required update would only take between two to three hours.

However, some jets may need to have their hardware replaced to adopt the required software – a process which would take a longer time.

The Airbus bulletin traced the problem to a flight system called ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer), which sends commands from the pilot’s side-stick to elevators at the rear of the plane, Reuters reported.

Those elevators control the aircraft’s pitch or nose angle, determining which way it is flying.

The A320 was first launched in 1984 and is the main competitor to the Boeing 737 MAX, which was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020, as well as during January 2024, after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 caused by faulty flight-control software.

What do you do, how do you spend your time, when you’ve just lost everything you have? 

This was the dilemma for thousands today in Hong Kong.

On the whole, it seemed people chose to stay close to the scene.

Hong Kong fire block latest: More arrests in deadly tower blaze

The square that had become the heart of the community response was heaving. Many poured through the piles of clothes, blankets and other supplies.

Some simply sat and watched on, their faces blank and stunned.

Above them, the seven blackened towers are now still and quiet. The blaze is finally out.

But an unknown number are still lying somewhere inside – and the wait for news is unbearable.

“Even if they are dead, I just want to know,” cries Mr Lau, whose elderly parents lived 27 floors up. His grief is raw and unchecked.

“I want to ask John Lee [Hong Kong’s chief executive], what are you actually doing? All you did was wander around and hold press conferences. What about us?”

His questions reflect a noticeable shift in the tone here.

There is a tension emerging, an anxiety, even an anger.

Of course, people are furious with the construction company that was undertaking renovations and is accused of cutting corners.

But that is not their only target.

Many here believe the Beijing-backed government has not enforced good enough safety standards, batting away residents’ concerns and turning a blind eye to issues like overcrowding.

They say it is now too focused on deflecting the blame.

“With every building maintenance project, there are criticisms, but these criticisms are always suppressed,” explains one man who lives in the neighbourhood.

And do you think there’s corruption, I ask?

“Absolutely,” he says.

They are particularly exercised about what they see as an overfocus on the bamboo scaffolding.

Considered almost a part of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, it was already being phased out. A convenient distraction from other failings, according to people here.

Tensions are high, too, between different groups of volunteers.

We witnessed two separate arguments where local grassroots organisers accused some who are part of a government-linked group of attempting to seize control and take the credit.

In the Hong Kong of old, there would almost certainly have been vigils here.

But after a massive crackdown on pro-democracy movements that climaxed in 2019, any mass gathering in today’s Hong Kong is seen as dangerous.

Even if it is just to honour the dead.

It feels like the resentments left over from that time are not that far from the surface.

This is still a human tragedy, but the fallout could well be political.

Jordan Bardella has had a makeover.

Like many in the new generation of right-wing European politicians, he has a neat haircut and sharply cut suits – now add to that glasses and some light stubble.

It’s all designed to achieve two things: clean up a historically toxic and racist far-right brand, and disguise his youth.

Bardella is only 30 years old, he has little life-experience outside politics, but he will be the next president of France in 2027 if new polls hold up.

The rebrand is working. For the first time this week, French polling company Odoxa predicted Bardella would win the presidency whatever his competition.

Bardella has a strong social media presence – 1.2 million followers on Instagram, 2.2 million on TikTok. It’s attracting a youth following who identify with this young pretender.

“We find that he thinks about us, about future generations, and that he’s trying to improve things for us,” a young girl told us as she waited for Bardella to arrive at the latest stop on his national book tour.

“We really feel like he’s there for us.”

“Everything he says is really good,” her friend added. “He’s got a bit of humour as well.”

Neither are yet old enough to vote. They will be by the time the next elections come around, though.

A platform for the presidency

Bardella’s new book, What The French People Want, is his snapshot of France today – told through the eyes of 21 ordinary French people, presumably carefully selected.

The collection of short stories paints a picture of a country that has drifted from its national identity. It is Bardella’s platform to campaign for the presidency in 2027.

We spent the day with him on his book tour (campaign launch) in the town of Vesoul in eastern France. It’s classic new National Rally territory.

The town has voted for the right-wing party in the last two elections, and its MP is another 30-something in the mould of Bardella.

“Sh*t, the enemy,” one person remarked when they overheard us speaking English. “Were you at the battle of Waterloo?”

The reception Bardella got, especially among the young, was hysterical. For well over an hour as the rain started to fall, he was surrounded by a crowd shouting his name and barging their way into his line of vision for a valuable selfie.

Bardella took his time, flashing his smile for hundreds of photos, savvy enough to know that each one posted on Instagram or Facebook is free advertising for his campaign.

But not everyone’s a fan…

Vesoul is friendly ground for Bardella, but National Rally remains a toxic brand in many people’s eyes. Plenty of French do not want to see him become their next president.

As the light faded and Bardella moved from one market stall to another at the town’s annual fair he was suddenly attacked by a local schoolboy who threw flour at him.

Bardella was bundled into a nearby gazebo and quickly surrounded by advisers and security.

His assailant, a 17-year-old, was arrested and taken away by police who had otherwise been standing to one side as the circus rolled through.

Bardella’s smart blue raincoat was now covered in white dust. The atmosphere turned as cold as the late November evening.

His security tried to stop us filming, flashing lights into our camera and physically threatening us as they escorted their man away through the now largely deserted market stalls.

“Next time I’ll beat you,” one of them shouted, wielding an umbrella.

Bardella’s social media channels would later make no reference to the incident. Follow him and watch them, and you would never know anything happened.

A short time later, cleaned up and in a change of clothes, Bardella was smiling again and posing for more selfies at a hotel in the town centre.

Has France had enough of ‘experts’?

Outside, hundreds waited in the cold and drizzle to get their copies of his book signed. The image of long queues around France is one that his social media team has pounced on.

Bardella has little to no experience outside of politics, having joined National Rally as a 16-year-old and dropping out of university. His youth and lack of another career is a criticism he dismisses with a well-rehearsed answer when I spoke to him between signings in a rare interview.

“That’s an argument I hear often from my political opponents, but only when it suits them,” he says.

“When the mayor of New York is elected at 34, the left applauds. When Gabriel Attal becomes prime minister at 33, the right applauds.

“I don’t believe age is any guarantee of effectiveness. For 30 years, our country has been led by people we were told were experts: people from elite schools, people presented to us as the brightest minds in finance. We can’t exactly say the results have been outstanding.”

Detoxifying the brand

He, and the party, have tried to distance themselves from the openly antisemitic and racist views of its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Le Pen’s daughter, Marine, remains the party matriarch but is banned from running for office after being found guilty of embezzling funds earlier this year. She will appeal but if she loses Bardella is her chosen successor.

Bardella has visited the Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and severed links with the extremist AfD in Germany. But he stills holds what many would regard as extreme views on immigration, classifying it as “a major emergency” and vowing to abolish “droit du sol” – the automatic birthright to French citizenship.

“All European countries, including the United Kingdom, are realising that immigration poses a threat to the major balances of society and to European societies as a whole, because it creates tensions, fuels insecurity, disrupts our identity, and places an economic and social burden on public finances,” he says.

Backing for Farage

I put to Bardella the prospect that in a few years, he could be president of France and Nigel Farage could be prime minister of the UK – two of Europe’s biggest powers led by far-right leaders.

“I have a lot of respect for Nigel Farage, for his fighting spirit,” Bardella replied.

“I think he’s extremely solid. He has never wavered in his determination to defend the interests of the British people first, and I truly wish for the UK that he becomes prime minister.

“That’s a personal view, I’m not trying to interfere.”

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Bardella has stopped short of proposing a “Frexit” but his views on the EU are clear, and Paris’s relationship with Brussels will undoubtedly change if he enters the Elysee Palace.

“Every time the European Union gets involved in something, it turns into a disaster,” he says.

“We handed agriculture over to the EU, it was a disaster. We handed energy over to the EU, companies are shutting down in France because energy prices and EU pricing rules have soared, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine. We entrusted immigration policy to the EU, again it was a disaster.”

He sees the UK as a major player in his vision for a reshaped Europe: “It is a great country, historically and geographically. I believe that in a Europe of nations, the UK would find a new role.”

And he is pro-Ukraine, telling me “a peace agreement cannot be made on Russia’s terms, because I do not underestimate, and no one should underestimate, President (Vladimir) Putin‘s intentions and ambitions”.

Bardella is capitalising on the dysfunction and deep unpopularity of Emmanuel Macron‘s administration. Four prime ministers in a little over a year have left the French public frustrated and disillusioned with the current leadership.

The country’s debt to GDP ratio is reaching crisis levels.

Bardella certainly presents something different and the French public, however sceptical, might just be fed up enough with the current generation of politicians to take a punt on him in 18 months’ time.