Flight operations impacted at Delhi Airport after air navigation system glitch
The disruption led to airside congestion, along with extended turnaround times, and long waiting periods for passengers as only 10–15 departures were taking place per hour compared with the airport’s usual average of about 60 departures per hour
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Flight operations at the national capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) were severely disrupted on Friday after a key air navigation system suffered a technical glitch, industry sources told businessline.
The malfunction, which occurred late Thursday night, affected the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) — which is a key component used for processing air traffic data along with flight planning.
Accordingly, the outage forced ATC (at the Air Traffic Control) controllers to handle flight planning manually.
Industry estimated that over 400 flights were delayed at Delhi Airport as a result of the glitch, with both domestic and international schedules impacted.
The disruption led to airside congestion, along with extended turnaround times, and long waiting periods for passengers as only 10–15 departures were taking place per hour compared with the airport’s usual average of about 60 departures per hour.
Besides, the cascading effect of the disruption was felt at other major airports, including Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).
Flights at these airports experienced knock-on delays caused by the glitch.
On its part, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) — which manages air navigation services across the country — confirmed the issue and said that its technical teams were working on priority to restore normalcy.
“Flight operations at Delhi Airport are experiencing delays due to a technical issue in the AMSS, which supports Air Traffic Control data. Controllers are processing flight plans manually, leading to some delays. Technical teams are working to restore the system at the earliest,” the AAI said in a statement.
Similarly, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) acknowledged the disruption, saying it was closely coordinating with AAI and airline operators to mitigate the impact.
“Due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control system, flight operations at IGIA are experiencing delays,” DIAL said, advising passengers to stay in touch with their airlines for the latest updates.
Published on November 7, 2025
