Delhi IGI disruption: About 300 flights disrupted in Delhi due to software glitch, many cancelled

Published on: 07 Nov 2025 at 03:45 PM

Published by: Fact News

Fact News Service

Chandigarh, November 7: Over 300 flights were disrupted at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Friday after a major technical failure hit the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and triggering widespread delays across northern India.

According to sources, airlines may be forced to cancel several evening flights due to a shortage of parking space on the Delhi runway caused by the backlog.

The glitch, which began on Thursday evening, affected the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) — the critical communication network that feeds data to the Auto Track System (ATS), responsible for generating flight plans for controllers. With the automatic system offline, ATC officials were compelled to manually prepare flight plans using available data, a time-consuming process that led to severe congestion in Delhi’s airspace.

“The problem lies with the AMSS, which supplies key data to the Auto Track System. Controllers are currently preparing flight plans manually, which is taking considerable time,” a senior airport official said.

As India’s busiest airport, IGI handles over 1,500 flight movements daily, and the disruption caused significant cascading effects on arrivals and departures through the morning. Flight tracking site Flightradar24 showed average departure delays of 45–50 minutes by 9 a.m.

A spokesperson for Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) confirmed the disruption, stating that flight operations were affected by a technical issue in the ATC system. “Our teams are working closely with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to restore normal operations at the earliest,” the spokesperson said.

Airlines including IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India issued travel advisories warning passengers of delays.

“Flight operations at Delhi Airport are currently experiencing delays due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control system,” IndiGo posted on X, assuring that ground staff were assisting stranded passengers.

SpiceJet cautioned that “all departures and arrivals might get affected due to ATC congestion in Delhi,” while Air India apologized for the inconvenience, saying, “We regret the disruption, which is beyond our control, and appreciate your patience. Our crew and airport teams are doing their best to minimize inconvenience.”

At the terminal, passengers faced long queues, extended waits onboard aircraft, and repeated rescheduling announcements. Many took to social media to vent frustration over the lack of communication and clarity from airlines.

Officials said technical teams were working to fully restore the system, but warned that it could take several hours to clear the backlog. Delays were also expected to ripple across airports in Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Amritsar throughout the day.