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

Shares of the European aviation giant Airbus Its shares fell as much as 10% on Monday, after reports that the company had discovered a manufacturing quality issue with dozens of A320 family jets.

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

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

Airbus shares listed in Paris fell to the bottom of the European STOXX 600 index due to this news. The stock was last seen down 5.3% at 2:22pm London time (9:22am ET), paring losses incurred earlier in the session.

The latest report comes after Airbus He said The vast majority of the nearly 6,000 A320s affected by a software glitch over the weekend have received the necessary modifications.

In a statement published Monday, Airbus apologized for the delays it caused to passengers and airlines affected by the software issue, which affected more than half of the narrowbody fleet and forced airlines to ground jets during one of the busiest travel weekends this year.

the Guidance – among the largest in Airbus’s 55-year history – it quickly expanded into holiday flights in the United States and extended to Australia. Disturbances associated with solar flares have been particularly hard hit in Asia, where the single-aisle A320 family stabilizes short-haul networks.

American Airlines and Delta AirlinesTheir shares, which were affected by the Airbus recall, fell by 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.

Meanwhile, shares of the French aerospace and defense company rose Thaleswhich supplies aviation system software to Airbus, was last seen falling 2%.

— CNBC’s Victor Loh contributed to this report.