Delhi airport says technical glitch gradually improving after 800 flights delayed

Delhi Airport on Saturday morning said that the technical glitch that caused hundreds of flight delays across India is “gradually improving” and the airline operations are also returning to normal.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi handles more than 1,500 flight movements daily. More than 800 flights were reportedly delayed, and at least 20 flights were cancelled, due to a technical glitch on Friday.

In its latest passenger advisory issued at 6:30 AM, the Delhi Airport said, “The technical issue which affected the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), that supports the Air Traffic Control flight planning process, is gradually improving.”

“Airline operations at Delhi Airport are returning to normal, and all concerned authorities are working diligently to minimise any inconvenience caused,” they said while requesting the passengers to check with their flight operators for flight updates.

Late on Friday, the Airports Authority of India said that the technical issue at the Delhi Airport was resolved. They also said that due to some backlogs, there may be some delays in the normal functioning of automated operations, but the situation will be normal soon.

In a post on X, the AAI said, “The AMSS systems are up and functional now. Due to some backlogs, there may be some delays in the normal functioning of automated operations, but the situation will be normal soon.”

‘Working on priority…’: IndiGo

After Delhi Airport's update, IndiGo airlines said that the airport operator and ATC teams are working on priority to fully restore systems and stabilise operations. “The situation is expected to be normalised over the next few hours.”

However, the airlines said, “During this period, some departure and arrival timings may continue to be adjusted.”

What caused the technical glitch at Delhi Airport?

The AAI, in a post on X, said that an issue was detected in the IP-based AMSS system on November 6. However, to manually process flight plans, the AAI said it had deployed additional staff.

The AAI provides air traffic control, navigation and other services to airports.

“The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) was engaged, and additional staff were deployed to manually process Flight Plans for the Air Traffic Control system to ensure uninterrupted and safe air traffic operations immediately.”

“A team of ECIL officials and AAI personnel is still on site. The AMSS systems are up and functional now. Due to some backlogs, there may be some delays in the normal functioning of automated operations, but the situation will be normal soon,” the AAI said in another post on X.

ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Ltd) officials from Hyderabad came to the national capital to help in addressing the technical issue.

An enquiry will be conducted to find out the reasons that resulted in the technical issue, news agency PTI said, citing sources.

There were reportedly some issues with the AMSS that provides the information for the Auto Track System, which gives the flight plans.

With the system issues continuing, air traffic controllers are preparing the flight plans manually with available data, which is a time-consuming process, and as a result, many flights are getting delayed, the PTI report said.