Delhi Airport Flight Chaos as ATC Technical Glitch Delays Hundreds of Flights
A major technical glitch in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport caused widespread flight delays on Friday, affecting over a hundred flights. The Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) failure forced controllers to process flight plans manually, leading to longer wait times and operational chaos. Passengers were advised to check updates with their airlines as technical teams worked to restore normal operations.
On Friday morning, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport experienced significant disruption after a technical issue struck the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, specifically the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) that supports ATC data. This led to delays for more than a hundred flights, with some reports indicating over 400 flights affected[1][2]. The Airport Authority of India confirmed that flight operations were experiencing widespread delays and that technical teams were working urgently to restore the system. In the interim, air traffic controllers were forced to process flight plans manually, which significantly slowed operations and increased waiting times for passengers both at the airport and on board aircraft. Major airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, reported impacts on their services, resulting in long queues and slower check-in and boarding processes. Passengers were advised to stay in touch with their respective airlines for real-time updates. The disruption follows recent instances of GPS spoofing at the same airport, which had already caused operational challenges. The current technical failure has compounded delays, particularly during periods of easterly winds that require specific approach and departure routes, further congesting airspace. Authorities expressed regret for the inconvenience and emphasized that the situation was beyond their control, while airline staff worked to assist affected passengers. The incident underscores the vulnerability of critical airport infrastructure to technical failures and the cascading effects on one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs.
