Airbus share prices falls on report of quality issue on A320 aircraft

Shares of the European aviation giant Airbus It fell as much as 10% on Monday following reports that the company had discovered an industrial quality issue on dozens of A320 family aircraft.

The defect, which is said to affect the plane’s body panels, is delaying some deliveries but there is no sign it has reached the aircraft in service, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.

In response, Airbus confirmed it had identified a quality issue with a “limited number” of A320 metal panels and said the source of the problem had been “identified and contained”. CNBC has contacted Airbus for comment.

Following the news, Airbus shares listed in Paris fell to the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index. The stock fell 5.4% at 3:42 PM London time (10:42 AM ET), trimming losses from earlier in the session.

The last report came after Airbus in question The majority of the approximately 6,000 A320 family aircraft affected by a software glitch over the weekend have now received the necessary changes.

In a statement released Monday, Airbus apologized for delays to passengers and airlines affected by the software issue, which affected more than half of the narrow-body fleet and forced airlines to ground jets during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

directive – among the largest in Airbus’ 55-year history – quickly spread to US holiday travel and extended to Australia. Disruption linked to solar flares has been hit particularly hard in Asia, where the single-aisle A320 family anchors short-haul networks.

American Airlines And Delta AirlinesAffected by the Airbus recall, both traded 0.2% lower and 0.3% higher, respectively.

Meanwhile, shares of the French aerospace and defense company ThalesShares of the company, which provides flight system software to Airbus, were last seen down 2%.

— CNBC’s Victor Loh contributed to this report.