Flight services in multiple parts of India were disrupted. On November 7, approximately 10 flights from Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar and 2 flights from Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh were delayed.
Notably, the delay in flights from Chandigarh Airport and Amritsar Airport was not due to fog, low visibility or winters. The reason behind the disruption of flight services was in the ATC System of Delhi Airport.
A technical glitch occurred in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at Delhi airport on Friday morning. Within minutes, nearly 200 flights were affected. Many planes were left stranded on the runway, and hundreds of passengers were stranded at the terminal for hours.
Air India and IndiGo issued advisories, asking passengers to inquire about departure times before boarding flights to Delhi. Currently, many flights were delayed by two to four hours.
IndiGo flight 6E2506, scheduled to depart from Amritsar, departed at 7:08 am instead of 6:05 am.
Air India flight AI1884 departed at 1:00 PM instead of 7:55 AM.
Air India flight AI496, scheduled for 10:30 AM, departed at 11:45 AM.
IndiGo flight 6E6848, scheduled for 10:40 AM, departed at 1:20 AM instead of 10:40 AM.
Air India flight AI492, scheduled for 1:20 PM, departed at 1:50 PM
Due to the disruption at Delhi Airport, flights from Chandigarh Airport to Delhi were also delayed.
Air India flight AI1862 departed at 11:17 AM instead of 8:45 AM
IndiGo flight 6E2195 departed at 3:45 PM instead of 12:35 PM.
All major airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, and Vistara, have sent messages to passengers informing them of the flight delays.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) is the central controlling system at airports. It issues instructions to aircraft on the ground, in the air, and in various parts of the sky.
Around 11 a.m. on Friday, the ATC system at Delhi Airport experienced a sudden technical glitch. Radar updates and flight data transfers were halted for a few minutes. This resulted in temporary flight halts. More than 100 flights were delayed, some had to be diverted to other cities, and many planes were left stranded on the runway.
Vistara, Air India, and IndiGo stated that the technical glitch affected the entire North Region air network. As soon as the main system failed, backup systems were activated.
This allowed aircraft tracking and communication to resume, preventing any major accidents. Teams from the Airport Authority and the DGCA immediately began a technical investigation.
AAI on its official X handle wrote, "Flight operations at Delhi Airport are experiencing delays due to a technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which supports Air Traffic Control data. Controllers are processing flight plans manually, leading to some delays. Technical teams are working to restore the system at the earliest. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all passengers and stakeholders."
