European aerospace giant Airbus has warned flights will be disrupted after it requested immediate modifications to thousands of its planes
The move comes after the discovery that intense radiation from the Sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls
About 6,000 planes are thought to be affected, which makes up about half of Airbus's global fleet, but it is understood most will be able to undergo a simple software update
The UK's aviation regulator has said carrying out the updates would likely cause "some disruption and cancellations to flights"
American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Air India, Wizz Air and Air New Zealand have all warned of disruption to flights
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Watch: This is "a very rare event", says UK's Civil Aviation Authority
Edited by Lawrence Peter and Helen Sullivan, with business correspondent Theo Leggett reporting
Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter
It's been a few hours now since Airbus announced it needs to implement an urgent software update to thousands of its planes. This comes after the discovery that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.
If you are just joining us, here's the latest:
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Airlines 'taking different approaches' to upgrade software, says aviation analyst
Sally Gethin, an aviation analyst, describes how the Airbus plane modifications are affecting airlines.
Airbus describes A320 planes as the "aircraft family of choice for airlines around the world".
These planes can fly up to 4,700 nautical miles (8,700km) and have a seating capacity from 120 to 244 seats.
The A320 also flies with 50% sustainable aviation fuel, which Airbus aims to use 100% of by 2030.
The planes feature a choice of two advanced turbofan engines, meaning they benefit from 20% fuel burn reduction when compared with previous generations of the aircraft.
EasyJet says it has "already completed" the software update on many of its planes and plans to operate its flights as normal on Saturday.
A spokesperson says: "We plan to operate our flying programme normally on Saturday and ask that customers travelling continue to monitor their flights on flight tracker."
The airline adds that safety is its highest priority and it "always operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with manufacturers guidelines".
Katy Austin
Transport correspondent
Responding to the technical issue with Airbus aircraft, the UK's Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says:
“I am aware of the technical issue impacting certain aircraft and concerns over how this will affect passengers and flights this evening."
She advises passengers who are due to fly this weekend to check with their carriers for the latest information.
The transport secretary says "the good news" is that "the impact on UK airlines seems limited, with a smaller number of aircraft requiring more complex software and hardware changes".
“I would really like to thank the experts, staff and airlines who are working at pace to address this and reassure passengers that work is ongoing."
"It is heartening this issue has been identified and will be addressed so swiftly, demonstrating the high aviation safety standards globally," she adds.
We've just seen an update from low-cost Australian airline Jetstar, which says some of its Airbus-operated flights are unable to depart at the moment.
"We’re working through the impacts on our fleet and to our customers. We'll have more information shortly," it says.
There is no impact to airline giant Qantas at this stage.
For context: Jetstar is Qantas's low-cost airline.
Michael Race
Business and economics reporter
A European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) directive stipulates that, as of 29 November, the planes thought to be affected can only fly passengers once they've been fixed.
They will be allowed to make so-called "ferry flights", without passengers, in order to get to a maintenance facility.
We've now heard from London's two biggest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick.
"We are aware of a directive requiring some airlines operating Airbus A320 aircraft to update software on their fleet over coming days, which may result in some disruption," a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport says.
"This is only impacting a small number of airlines at London Gatwick. Passengers should contact their airline for more information."
Separately, Heathrow Airport says the required maintenance on some Airbus aircraft currently has no impact on its operations.
"Dozens of big airlines use these aircraft," travel journalist Simon Calder tells the BBC.
"So the potential for disruption is, I'm afraid, immeasurable at this stage."
Calder says that while British Airways' mainline fleet of short-haul flights that are at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports use entirely Airbus A320 series planes, "my understanding is that only three of those are affected by this and as a result they'll be able to get the work done overnight, hopefully with no disruption".
He adds he has spoken to Wizz Air and EasyJet, who we have reported are expecting some delays. "Now the assumption, I'm glad to say, is that your flight will be going ahead as normal and the airline will contact you if there is any change to that."
Simon Browning
Transport correspondent
The Airbus software issue could take hours to fix on the planes themselves, which an industry source suggests means some cancellations are inevitable over the weekend.
It is understood UK-based airlines are currently working on their plans, with one airline being particularly affected.
Planes will arrive in the UK this evening as usual, but it appears some will not do their next turnaround tomorrow and depart from the UK again.
I've been told airports will need to play “a logistical game of Tetris tonight to free up space” to make sure incoming aircraft can be parked overnight. Airports “will be having to park them remotely to ensure incoming long hauls have space", the industry source says.
It is unclear how many engineers will be needed at once to update software. The skies at this time of year are quieter after the peak summer period and before the Christmas festive rush begins.
It is understood about 80 aircraft are affected at Gatwick Airport.
Air Canada says it's not expecting any impact to its operations as "very few of our aircraft use that version of the software".
However, connecting flights with other airlines could still be delayed by a knock-on effect.
Other Canadian Airlines WestJet and Porter don't have any of the A320 planes listed on their websites. 
Theo Leggett
Business correspondent
This issue affects around 6,000 aircraft.
For the majority of planes, the fix will involve installing new computer software. This should normally take about three hours.
But around 900 older planes will need computers replaced and will not be allowed to carry passengers again until the job has been completed.
How long that takes will depend on the availability of replacement computers.
It’s not yet clear whether there will be enough parts to meet demand.
We're hearing from more airlines around the world who are now reporting potential disruptions to services as a result of the immediate recall of aircraft by Airbus.
We'll bring you further airline updates when we have them. Theo Leggett
Business correspondent
It was experienced on one flight, when an aircraft flying from Cancun to New Jersey was affected by a sudden and intense solar storm.
The radiation corrupted data in the ELAC – a computer used to operate control surfaces on the wings and horizontal stabilizer.
The fault caused the plane to go into a sudden descent.
Airbus says the plane had recently had its software updated. The issue had never arisen with the previous software.
But now, it insists it is acting out of an abundance of caution.
It took the issue to regulators itself and asked airlines to make changes.
EasyJet says its aware of the communication from Airbus to airlines operating the A320 family aircraft and is "currently working closely with the safety authorities and Airbus to implement the action we need to take".
The airline says it is expecting this to result in some disruption and will "inform customers directly about any changes to our flying programme tomorrow and will do all possible to minimise the impact".
“Safety is our highest priority and EasyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with manufacturers guidelines,” its statement concludes.
Air New Zealand says it's currently affected by a "global software issue impacting Airbus A320neo aircraft", it says in a post on social media platform X., external
"As a precaution, all our A320neo aircrafts will be receiving a software update before operating their next passenger service," the airline says.
The statement continues by saying "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".
"If you’re travelling today, we will be contacting customers directly if your flight is affected," the airline adds.
Tim Johnson from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority tells the BBC that there may be disruptions to flights "in some circumstances".
"From a UK perspective, not all airlines fly Airbus A320 or the affected ones, so for some airlines there will be no impact at all," he says.
"For some, there may be some impact," he continues, adding that the CAA has been in touch with airlines and they're looking to make sure the maintenance is undertaken over the coming days.
He says the advice to customers is to "check airline websites and apps for the latest info about what is happening".Theo Leggett
Business correspondent
The issue was discovered after a JetBlue aircraft en-route from Mexico to the United States in October experienced a ‘sudden drop in altitude’.
The plane made an emergency landing, with reports at the time suggesting 15 to 20 people suffered minor injuries.
It’s thought the incident was caused by intense solar radiation, which corrupted data in a computer used to help control the aircraft.
Now action is being taken to prevent further problems. About 6,000 aircraft worldwide are thought to be affected, all of them of the A320 family, which also includes the A319 and A321 models.
According to Airbus, the majority can be fixed with a relatively simple software update. However, some 900 older planes will need replacement computers, and will have to be taken out of service until they can be fixed.Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter
Airbus says that flights will be disrupted after it requested immediate modifications to thousands of its planes.
The plane manufacturer says it has found that intense radiation from the Sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.
About 6,000 planes are thought to be affected, which is around half of the company’s global fleet.
It’s thought most will be able to undergo a simple software update.
We’ll be bringing you live coverage as well as information on any potential disruption, stay with us.
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