Airbus said a recent incident involving an A320 family aircraft had revealed intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
The company has ordered an immediate change to a "significant number" of its best-selling A320 jets, which threatened to disrupt half the world's airlines.
Air NZ chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said "as a precaution" all A320neo aircraft in its fleet would receive a software update before operating their next passenger service.
"This will lead to disruption across a number of our A320neo flights on Saturday and we're expecting a number of cancellations to services across that fleet.
"We will contact customers directly if their flight is affected. Customers can also check the latest updates on their flight through the Air NZ app or website. We will provide an update when we have more information on the impact to our services on Saturday."
Airbus A320s were commonly used on Air NZ's Australia and Pacific Island routes.
Some Jetstar flights have also been cancelled.
The company issued a statement saying they were working through the impacts of the grounding on its fleet and would have more information shortly.
“We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”
In a statement, Airbus said: "Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority."
