Airbus, Europe’s largest aerospace group, said yesterday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 jets, sparking disruptions worldwide.

The fix mainly involves reverting to earlier software but must be carried out before the planes can fly again.

A Jetstar spokesman said in a statement on Saturday that “Jetstar is impacted by an Airbus fleet software issue that’s affecting all A320 family operators globally”.

“To respond to a precautionary action from Airbus, we have cancelled some Jetstar Airways flights,” the spokesman said.

Qantas and budget arm Jetstar together hold about 65% of Australia’s domestic market while Virgin, its biggest domestic competitor, has a 35% share.

Qantas said today there was no impact on its aircraft from the Airbus recall.

A Virgin Australia spokesman said the company did “not anticipate any impact to either Virgin Australia or our Regional Airline operations”.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp reported travellers were experiencing significant delays at Melbourne airport today amid the recall, one of the largest affecting Airbus in its 55-year history.

It comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model.