Over 100 Flights Delayed at Delhi Airport After Major ATC Glitch

The Voice of Chandigarh :

Air travel in and out of the national capital was severely disrupted on Friday morning after a technical glitch hit the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), leading to delays of over 100 flights.

According to officials, the problem was traced to the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) — a crucial software that feeds flight-plan data to air traffic controllers. With the system down, controllers were forced to process flight plans manually, slowing down operations considerably.

Both arrivals and departures were affected, though the impact was more pronounced on outgoing flights. Several airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara, and Akasa Air, issued advisories to passengers urging them to check flight statuses before heading to the airport.

“Due to a technical issue with the ATC system, flight operations at Delhi Airport are experiencing delays. Our team is actively coordinating with all stakeholders to resolve the matter. Passengers are advised to stay in touch with their respective airlines for updated information,” the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in an official statement.

Sources said the outage caused departure delays averaging 45–55 minutes, with some flights facing even longer hold times. The cascading effect of the disruption is expected to impact operations through the day, given that Delhi handles over 1,500 flight movements daily.

While engineers from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and DIAL are working to restore full functionality, officials have not confirmed when normal operations will resume. Preliminary reports suggest the glitch may have been caused by a fault in the AMSS data relay module, though an internal review is underway.

Passengers arriving at the airport this morning faced long queues, with several complaining of poor communication from airlines. Meanwhile, air traffic at other major airports also experienced minor ripple effects due to delayed inbound flights from Delhi.

The ATC glitch highlights the growing need for technological redundancy and real-time backup systems in India’s busiest airports to prevent large-scale operational disruptions.