New Delhi, Nov 7: Hundreds of passengers faced chaotic scenes at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Friday as nearly 300 flights were delayed following a technical breakdown in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, officials said.
According to sources, the disruption was caused by a malfunction in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which transmits flight plan data essential for managing aircraft movements. The snag has affected the Auto Track System (ATS) linked to flight information, forcing controllers to prepare flight plans manually — a time-consuming process that led to widespread delays.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which operates ATC and navigation services, confirmed the issue and said technical teams were working to resolve it swiftly. “We regret the disruption being experienced at IGIA due to a technical issue at ATC that is affecting flight operations. This matter is being addressed on priority with close coordination among ATC, DIAL, and other stakeholders,” the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in a post on X.
Major carriers including IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air reported flight delays due to the ongoing technical glitch. The IGI Airport, India’s busiest, handles over 1,500 flights daily.
Sources said congestion built up inside terminals as passengers waited for updates, with long queues forming at boarding gates. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 indicated that about 300 flights were delayed, with average departure delays of nearly 60 minutes.
The issue reportedly began late Thursday, affecting data transfer between systems at Delhi and some other northern airports. Controllers continued to manage flight operations manually while engineers worked to restore the AMSS. (Agencies)
