TECHNICAL GLITCH AT DELHI AIRPORT’S ATC DELAYS NEARLY 300 FLIGHTS

NEW DELHI, Nov 7 (Bernama-PTI) -- Hundreds of passengers faced a difficult time at the Delhi airport on Friday as nearly 300 flights were delayed due to technical problems with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. 

IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air said their flights at the Delhi airport were delayed due to issues with the ATC system.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the country’s busiest airport, handles more than 1,500 flight movements daily.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said flight operations at the Delhi airport were facing delays due to a technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which supports ATC data.

The state-owned AAI, which provides ATC and navigation services, said technical teams were working to restore the system at the earliest.

“We regret the disruption being experienced at IGIA due to a technical issue at ATC that is affecting flight operations.

“This matter is being addressed on priority with close coordination among ATC, DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) and other stakeholders,” a DIAL operator said on social media platform X.

According to the sources, there were long queues near the boarding gates and hundreds of passengers were waiting inside the airport terminals for flight updates.

The sources said air traffic controllers had been unable to receive flight plans automatically since Thursday evening due to technical issues.

There were issues with the AMSS, which provides information for the Auto Track System (ATS) that generates flight plans, one of the sources said.

With the system issues continuing, air traffic controllers are preparing flight plans manually using available data, which is a time-consuming process, resulting in further delays, the sources said.

They added that the problem was causing air traffic congestion at the airport and that authorities were working to fix the fault.

Data from the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com showed that nearly 300 flights had been delayed at the airport, with the average delay for departing flights around 60 minutes.

“Due to an ongoing technical issue with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) that supports Air Traffic Control data, flights across all airlines at #DelhiAirport and some other airports in the northern region are currently facing delays,” IndiGo said in a post on X.

-- BERNAMA-PTI