Delhi airport chaos: Over 300 flights delayed due to technical snag; ATCs processing flight plans manually

Airports Authority of India says delays due to technical issue in Automatic Message Switching System; there were long queues at the boarding gates; many were forced to wait inside the airport terminals for flight updates

New Delhi: Technical problems with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system threw operations at the Delhi airport into chaos on Friday, delaying more than 300 domestic and international flights and impacting the travel plans of hundreds of fliers.

IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa Air said there are delays in their flights at the airport, the busiest in the country, handling around 1,500 flight movements daily. 

Airports Authority of India (AAI) said flight operations at the Delhi airport are facing delays due to a technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (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. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all passengers and stakeholders, the AAI, which provides air traffic control and navigation services, posted on X.

Delhi International Airport Ltd, which runs the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, posted on X at 1:42 pm, "all airline operations at Delhi Airport are currently delayed. Concerned authorities are working on resolving the issue at the earliest."

Officials said around 300 flights have been delayed, as air traffic controllers were unable to get flight plans automatically since Thursday evening due to a technical problem, prompting the air traffic controllers to prepare the flight plans manually with available data. This, officials said, is a time-consuming process, leading to the delay of flights.

There were long queues at the boarding gates while a large number of people were forced to wait inside the airport terminals for flight updates. Flight tracking website Flightradar24.com indicated that the delay for departing flights is around 50 minutes at the airport.

"Due to an ongoing technical issue with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) that supports Air Traffic Control data, flights across all airlines at Delhi Airport and some other airports in the northern region are currently experiencing delays," IndiGo posted on X.

Air India said a technical issue with the ATC in Delhi has impacted flight operations across all airlines. SpiceJet said the disruption is impacting flights across Delhi and several northern regions, while Akasa Air said the technical issue with the ATC system at the Delhi airport may lead to longer wait times at the airport and delays for some of their flights.