Spanish flag-carrier Iberia told passengers on 29 November that it had finished installing an urgent Airbus-mandated software patch across its A320 family fleet without cancelling or delaying scheduled services. The fix addresses a flight-management-system bug discovered during routine data-link tests earlier this month and had to be applied worldwide before 1 December.
Iberia coordinated a “moon-shift” operation at its Madrid-Barajas maintenance base, cycling 38 aircraft through dedicated bays between 22:00 and 06:00. Extra technicians were drafted from Iberia Mantenimiento and partner Iberia Express, while duplicate spare-aircraft cover was positioned in Barcelona and Málaga in case post-update snags emerged.
![Iberia Completes Overnight Airbus A320 Software Upgrade—No Weekend Disruption Expected]()
The airline’s proactive stance contrasts with the disruption seen at several Asian carriers that grounded narrow-body fleets last week, forcing mass re-bookings. For business-travel planners, Iberia’s confirmation means the high-density Madrid-Barcelona ‘puente aéreo’, plus Saturday long-haul departures to São Paulo and New York, should operate normally.
Nevertheless, corporate travellers are advised to keep itinerary monitoring active: European aviation authorities will be running random ramp inspections to verify that software versions match the new Airbus baseline. Boarding could take longer if crews must brief regulators. Travellers transferring onward on Oneworld partners should check whether those carriers have also completed the patch.
Iberia said the next scheduled tech intervention will be the January rollout of the new EASA-mandated crash-protected cockpit voice recorder, which may require short overnight groundings but “will again be planned to avoid passenger impact.”
Iberia coordinated a “moon-shift” operation at its Madrid-Barajas maintenance base, cycling 38 aircraft through dedicated bays between 22:00 and 06:00. Extra technicians were drafted from Iberia Mantenimiento and partner Iberia Express, while duplicate spare-aircraft cover was positioned in Barcelona and Málaga in case post-update snags emerged.
The airline’s proactive stance contrasts with the disruption seen at several Asian carriers that grounded narrow-body fleets last week, forcing mass re-bookings. For business-travel planners, Iberia’s confirmation means the high-density Madrid-Barcelona ‘puente aéreo’, plus Saturday long-haul departures to São Paulo and New York, should operate normally.
Nevertheless, corporate travellers are advised to keep itinerary monitoring active: European aviation authorities will be running random ramp inspections to verify that software versions match the new Airbus baseline. Boarding could take longer if crews must brief regulators. Travellers transferring onward on Oneworld partners should check whether those carriers have also completed the patch.
Iberia said the next scheduled tech intervention will be the January rollout of the new EASA-mandated crash-protected cockpit voice recorder, which may require short overnight groundings but “will again be planned to avoid passenger impact.”
