Airbus on Saturday warned of potential travel disruption as it upgrades some 6,000 operational A320 aircraft, after an incident on a Jetblue flight last month.
The European plane-maker instructed its clients to take "immediate precautionary action" after evaluating the incident.
"Intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls," Airbus stated, adding that "a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in service" may be affected.
Replacing the software will take "a few hours" on most planes, but for some 1,000 aircraft, the process "will take weeks", a source close to the issue told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The faulty software, the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC), is made by aerospace and defence giant Thales.
"Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers," it said, apologising for the inconvenience.
Australian flights affected
The recall has already caused disruptions for multiple major airlines in Australia and around the world.
Jetstar confirmed some of its flights are "impacted by an Airbus fleet software issue that’s affecting all A320 family operators globally".
"Safety is our number one priority. To respond to a precautionary action from Airbus, we have cancelled some Jetstar Airways flights," a Jetstar spokesperson told SBS News in a statement.
"Our teams are working on options to get customers on their way as quickly as possible and are contacting affected customers directly.
"We thank customers for their understanding and patience. We will continue to provide updates."
Jetstar provided no details on how many of its flights are impacted.
SBS News understands no Qantas-operated flights are affected by the recall. Virgin Australia have been contacted for comment.
Air New Zealand has said that they are "affected by a global software issue impacting Airbus A320neo aircraft" and all of their "A320neo aircraft will be receiving a software update before operating their next passenger service."
"This will lead to disruption across a number of our A320neo flights today and we’re expecting a number of cancellations to services across that fleet," the airline posted on X.
The world's largest A320 operator, American Airlines, has said some 340 of its 480 A320 aircraft would need the fix. It said it mostly expected these to be completed by Saturday, with about two hours required for each plane.
Other airlines said they would take planes briefly out of service to carry out the repairs, including Germany's Lufthansa, India's IndiGo, and UK-based easyJet.
Colombian carrier Avianca said the recall affected more than 70 per cent of its fleet, around 100 jets, causing significant disruption over the next 10 days and prompting the airline to close ticket sales for travel dates through 8 December.
For about two-thirds of the affected jets, the recall will theoretically result in a brief grounding as airlines revert to a previous software version, industry sources have told Reuters.
The Jetblue incident
The major recall follows an incident involving a Jetblue-operated A320 aircraft on 30 October, which experienced an in-flight control problem caused by a computer malfunction.
The plane suddenly nosedived as it travelled between Cancun in Mexico and Newark in the United States, and pilots had to land in Tampa, Florida.
US media quoted local firefighters saying that some passengers were injured.
Produced since 1988, the A320 is the best-selling aircraft globally, with Airbus selling 12,257 of the plane by the end of September compared to the sale of 12,254 Boeing 737s.
Additional reporting by the Reuters News Agency.
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