Travel chaos as thousands of passengers stranded at airport after major glitch

A major software malfunction in Delhi’s air traffic control system triggered widespread disruption (Image: Getty)

More than 300 flights were delayed at a huge international airport, leaving thousands of passengers stranded by a major software malfunction in the air traffic control system. The glitch, which caused widespread disruption at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Friday after initially beginning on Thursday, significantly impacted flight operations across northern India.

The error disrupted the airport's ability to generate flight plans, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and leftthousands of passengers with long delays. The fault was specifically traced back to the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) that triggered a chain reaction that stopped air traffic control from being able to automatically schedule flight plans.

The system error has lead to flights being delayed by an average of 50 minutes (Image: Getty)

The system error led controllers in the tower to manually process the plans - an incredibly time-consuming task especially as IGIA is India’s busiest airport handling more than 1,500 aircraft movements a day.

A senior official at the Airports Authority of India (AAI) added: “This kind of manual workaround is rare and extremely inefficient for an airport of this scale.”

According to Flightradar24, this morning, the average flight was delayed by 45 to 50 minutes, with the outage also affecting regional airports in Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Amritsar.

With the manual records now in operation, officials have warned that even though the computer system is back online, the backlog will still cause significant delays to passengers.

Air India said it was aware of the disruption and apologised to it's passengers (Image: Getty)

Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) confirmed the technical issue and said teams were working closely with AAI to restore full functionality. 

"We’re coordinating with all stakeholders to stabilise operations and minimise passenger inconvenience,” a DIAL spokesperson said.

Airlines across the country also warned passengers to expect delays and plan journeys ahead. Air India wrote: “We understand the frustration this has caused and are doing everything possible to support our customers during this unexpected disruption.”

Another Indian airline, SpiceJet, added: “We’re monitoring the situation closely and adjusting schedules as needed to ensure safety and efficiency.”

By midday, AAI officials reported that while operations remained slower than usual, the system had stabilised, a senior AAI engineer added: "Restoration work is ongoing, and we expect gradual improvement through the afternoon."