A major technical glitch at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday disrupted operations and caused extensive delays across more than 300 domestic and international flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded for hours. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed that the disruption was triggered by a failure in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), a core communication link used by Air Traffic Control (ATC) for processing and routing flight plans. The breakdown forced flight controllers to resort to manual procedures, significantly slowing down flight handling at one of the busiest airports in the country.
According to the AAI, the AMSS is critical to coordinating real-time flight data and communication between pilots, air traffic controllers, and ground operations. With the system malfunctioning, clearance processes that usually take seconds stretched into several minutes per aircraft. The resulting bottleneck led to cascading delays across departure and arrival schedules, including long ground-holds and diversions in some cases.
Passengers reported long queues at check-in counters, overcrowded waiting areas, and a lack of timely information from airlines. Many travelers took to social media to express frustration, sharing videos of congested terminal corridors and delayed boarding announcements. Some passengers complained that they received updates only after prolonged waiting, while others said they were advised to remain near gates without clarity on new departure timings.
Airlines including Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Vistara issued advisories acknowledging the delays and requested passengers to check updated schedules before arriving at the airport. Several airlines also announced waivers for rebooking and cancellation charges for affected passengers. However, the situation remained difficult as the delays extended from afternoon hours into the evening, affecting both peak domestic travel and international transit flights.
Technical teams from the Airports Authority of India and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) were deployed to identify and resolve the system failure. Preliminary assessments indicated that the issue originated in the automated routing module of the AMSS, but officials stated that a full diagnostic was underway. While ATC operations continued in limited capacity, restoration was expected to take time as safety protocols required gradual system reactivation and verification.
Delhi Airport, handling nearly 1,500 flights daily, is a crucial hub connecting major national and international routes. The disruption therefore had ripple effects across other airports, causing delays on connecting flights and extended turnaround times.
Authorities have assured that efforts are ongoing to restore full functionality at the earliest.
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