E-Paper
Technical glitch at Delhi airport now restored, flight ops to resume normally: What we know so far
Major airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet, reported that their services were affected, resulting in long queues and slower operations.
The Airports Authority of India on Friday said that the technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which led to a massive disruption at the Delhi airport, was addressed and that the flight operations were set to resume normally.
The development comes after the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the capital descended into chaos earlier today with nearly 800 domestic and international flights getting delayed due to the issue.
Data from Flightradar24 at around 9pm showed that around 95 per cent of departing flights were facing delays of around 55 minutes on average. Meanwhile, 69 per cent of flights arriving at the airport were delayed, with an average delay of 43 minutes. Follow LIVE updates
Major airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet, reported that their services were affected, resulting in long queues and slower operations. The airport, among the country's busiest, handles more than 1,500 flight movements daily.
Here are the latest updates:
- The AAI said the technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) was detected on November 6 in the IP-based AMSS system. “Immediately, the review meeting was conducted by the Secretary, MoCA, with Chairman AAI, Member ANS, and other officials, and necessary directions were given to address the issues,” it said.
- The body added that the AMSS systems were now functioning and that there might be some delays in the normal functioning.
- Earlier in the day, the Delhi International Airport Limited said flight operations were disrupted due to an ongoing technical issue with the Automatic Message Switching System that supports the ATC flight planning process.
- “All airline operations at Delhi Airport are currently delayed. Concerned authorities are working on resolving the issue at the earliest. Passengers are requested to follow updates from their airlines regarding revised schedules,” it said.
- An official privy to the matter told HT.com that such a glitch is uncommon and has not happened earlier.
Also Read | Delhi airport ops hit: What airlines advised amid multiple flight delays
- Due to the disruption, air traffic controllers were forced to manually prepare flight plans using available data, a time-consuming process that resulted in flight delays.
- “In addition to that, all the meteorological information that comes from all the meteorological stations across the country is integrated into this one conduit, which is available in the form of the Automatic Terminal Information System or the ATIS,” Captain Sharath Panicker told ANI.
- An information technology (IT) ministry official confirmed to HT that a technical glitch during the upgrade of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) software caused the delays. The official denied that the disruptions were due to any cyberattack.
- “There is supposed to be an automatic updation of flight plans, which stopped functioning. It is not a cyber attack,” the official, who did not wish to be named, said.
- Airlines such as Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet issued advisories warning passengers of potential delays due to disruptions in flight operations.
- News agency PTI, citing sources, reported that long queues were formed near the boarding gates, with hundreds of passengers waiting inside the airport terminals for flight updates.
