By bizn_fun 
The Civil Aviation Authority [CAA], the UK’s aviation regulator, said the request from Airbus would “likely to mean that unfortunately there may be some disruption and cancellations to flights”.
Giancarlo Buono, director of aviation safety at CAA, added: “We have been made aware of an issue that may affect some of the A320 family of aircraft and the precautionary action that EASA has taken.
“Passengers should check with their airline whether their flights are affected. Airlines have a duty of care to look after passengers when a flight is delayed.”
The problem affecting the aircraft is that intense solar and cosmic radiation at high altitudes can affect the working of the ELAC computer, which controls the elevators and ailerons. These are aerodynamic surfaces that are used to make the aircraft pitch up or down or roll to turn.
The A320 family are what is known as “fly by wire” planes. This means there is no direct mechanical link between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually govern flight. The pilot’s actions are interpreted by computers – which actually “fly” the plane.
The manufacturer has issued an alert to airlines, requesting them to take “immediate precautionary action…in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection and ensure the fleet is safe to fly”.
Following Airbus’s annoucement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) confirmed it had also instructed “precautionary action” to some of the global Airbus 320 aircraft fleet.