PARIS — Thousands of Airbus aircraft have returned to normal service after being grounded worldwide for hours following a warning that solar radiation could interfere with their flight-control computers, officials and airlines said on Saturday.

Airbus said the issue affected around 6,000 jets from its A320 family, with most requiring only a quick software update.

About 900 older aircraft, however, must replace a specific onboard computer before resuming full operations.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said updates “went very smoothly” for more than 5,000 aircraft, adding that “fewer than 100 planes” still required the patch, according to local media.

“Software updates were already rolled out overnight on virtually all devices,” he said.

The grounding created varying levels of disruption across global carriers.

Air France experienced delays and cancellations at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Saturday morning, while the impact was more complex in the United States due to the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the country’s busiest travel periods.

American Airlines said 340 of its aircraft were affected and warned of “some operational delays,” although most updates were being completed on Friday and Saturday.

Delta Air Lines said the operational impact would be “limited.”

In the United Kingdom, disruption appeared minimal. Gatwick Airport reported “some disruption,” while Heathrow said it experienced no cancellations.

Manchester Airport said it did not anticipate significant problems. British Airways and Air India were also reported to be only lightly affected.

EasyJet said it had completed the update on a “significant number” of its aircraft and expected to operate normally, while Wizz Air said its operations were running as scheduled after overnight updates.

In Australia, budget airline Jetstar cancelled 90 flights, saying around one-third of its fleet was affected.

The carrier said disruptions would continue through the weekend despite most aircraft already receiving the software fix.

Airbus discovered the vulnerability after a JetBlue Airways A321 flying between the US and Mexico suddenly lost altitude and made an emergency landing in October, injuring at least 15 passengers.

The investigation revealed that solar radiation bursts at high altitude could corrupt data used by computers that calculate the aircraft’s elevation.

The issue affected A318, A319, A320, and A321 models. While approximately 5,100 aircraft required only a software update, about 900 older models will remain grounded until replacement components become available. — Agencies