Airbus is facing significant turbulence as reports of a new quality problem affecting dozens of A320-family aircraft sent its shares tumbling up to 10% today, before recouping some losses.
According to Reuters, the issue involves a manufacturing defect in the metal panels of the fuselage on certain A320 aircraft. While this has already caused delays in the delivery of new planes, there are no indications that aircraft already in service are affected.
Airbus confirmed that the quality issue concerns a “limited number” of panels and stated that the source of the problem has been “identified and contained.”
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Airbus shares fell to the lower end of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, posting a 5.5% loss shortly after 15:00 Greek time, following an even sharper decline at the start of trading.
Second Hit After Widespread Software Glitch
This development comes just days after a major software glitch affected approximately 6,000 A320 aircraft worldwide.
On Monday, Airbus issued an apology to passengers and airlines for delays, noting that the vast majority of the fleet has now received the necessary updates. The software issue was attributed to solar storms and impacted operations from the U.S. to Australia, particularly affecting short- and medium-haul networks in Asia.
