Over 200 Flights Delayed at Delhi Airport Due to Air Traffic Control System Glitch
More than 200 flights were delayed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport following a technical glitch in the air traffic control messaging system, causing manual flight plan generation and disruptions. The issue began Thursday evening, leading to departure delays averaging 55 minutes, affecting domestic and international flights. Technical teams are working to restore the system.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport experienced significant flight delays on November 7, 2025, after its air traffic control's Automatic Message Switching System suffered a malfunction. This system, responsible for generating flight plans automatically, went down, forcing controllers to create flight plans manually. The disruption caused delays for over 200 flights, with an average departure delay of 55 minutes, heavily impacting scheduled take-offs between 6am and 8am. The technical issue started Thursday evening and affected airlines including IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India, and several international carriers. For example, an ITA Airways flight to Rome was delayed nearly two hours, and a Virgin Atlantic flight to London was delayed by more than an hour. While aircraft landings continued, take-offs were disrupted, and no clear timeline for resolution was provided. The incident raised concerns about possible cyber causes, as authorities investigated if malware was involved, reflecting recent ransomware attacks affecting European airports. Delhi airport handles 60-70 aircraft movements per hour and served about 78 million passengers in 2024, ranking it ninth busiest globally. The airport operator is predominantly owned by GMR Airports, while the Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages air traffic control. AAI confirmed that technical teams are working on the issue but did not specify the malfunction's origin.
