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The Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced late on Friday that the system used to generate flight plans is now “up and running,” after a major technical glitch caused widespread disruptions at Delhi airport, one of the world’s busiest.
The outage, which disrupted both departures and arrivals, led to delays in hundreds of flights and affected airline stocks. Shares of IndiGo (INGL.NS) fell by 2%, while SpiceJet (SPJT.BO) dropped 1% on Friday after both carriers, along with the Air India Group, cautioned passengers about continuing disruptions expected to extend into Saturday.
According to the AAI, it will take some time for operations to fully return to normal due to the significant backlog. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that at least 200 flights were delayed on Friday after the system malfunctioned around 6 pm on Thursday.
“The issue was detected… in the IP-based Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS).” AAI said in a post on X, without providing details on the cause of the technical issue.
The malfunction in the AMSS, used to generate flight plans, forced controllers to develop them manually, leading to delays, the AAI said earlier on Friday. Some airlines, such as Air India Express, deputed their own personnel to air traffic control to generate flight plans manually, a second source familiar with the matter said.
The incident follows a ransomware attack that disrupted some of Europe’s biggest airports, knocking out automated check-in systems and affecting flights in September.
The glitch in India delayed about 25 flight departures on Thursday and more than 175 on Friday at Delhi airport, the first source said. Delhi airport handles 60-70 aircraft movements per hour. Data from Flightradar24 showed the average departure delay was 60 minutes on Friday evening.
The malfunction also hit several international airlines, with an ITA Airways flight to Rome delayed by nearly two hours and a Virgin Atlantic flight to London by more than an hour.
Delhi airport handled about 78 million passengers in 2024, making it the ninth busiest airport in the world, according to Airports Council International. The operator of the airport is majority owned by GMR Airports, while air traffic control is managed by the AAI.
With inputs from Reuters
Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
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