Philippines Cancels 82 A320 and A321 Flights Following Airbus Software Update

Three airlines in the Philippines, including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia, have been forced to cancel over 82 flights due to an urgent software update required for their Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. The cancellations followed a global technical advisory issued by Airbus to upgrade the aircraft's software, as a precautionary measure against potential interference from solar radiation.

The Philippine Department of Transportation, led by Giovanni Lopez, confirmed the immediate suspension of affected flights from the three airlines after receiving the Airbus notification around 1:00 AM local time. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) reported that 93 aircraft were impacted, including 6 international flights and 5 domestic flights, which faced delays on Saturday, November 29, 2025.

By midday on Saturday, Lopez confirmed that some aircraft had already completed the software updates, and authorities expected all affected planes to be fully upgraded by Sunday, November 30, 2025.

This issue, linked to solar flares, was initially detected following an incident in October, where an A320 aircraft flying between the United States and Mexico experienced an abrupt altitude loss. Airbus believes that approximately 6,000 A320-family aircraft worldwide are affected by the problem, but the update should allow most planes to resume operations once the software is patched.

Lopez reassured passengers that safety remains the government’s top priority and stated that measures were in place to minimize disruptions while airlines work to restore operations to normal.