Airbus fleets have returned to normal operations after a software issue that could have affected flight controls was fixed faster than expected.

The manufacturer issued an alert about the problem affecting the A320 family of aircraft on Friday after analysis of a flight involving an A320 showed "intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls".

Dozens of airlines said they had carried out the snap software retrofit over the weekend, with Airbus confirming on Monday the "vast majority" of around 6,000 of its A320 fleet affected by the software issue had been modified.

"We are working with our airline customers to support the modification of less than 100 remaining aircraft to ensure they can be returned to service," Airbus said.

"Airbus apologises

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