Post by : Meena
Hassan
Operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, one of India’s busiest hubs, are steadily resuming normalcy nearly 36 hours after a significant technical issue impacted its Air Traffic Control (ATC) system.
According to Flightradar24, about 129 flights experienced delays on Saturday—53 arrivals and 76 departures—marking a major recovery from the nearly 800 delays seen the previous day. Average delays now stand at five minutes for arrivals and 19 minutes for departures.
Delhi Airport officials stated that the difficulties arising from the malfunction of the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), crucial for ATC flight planning, are beginning to stabilize.
“Airline operations at Delhi Airport are gradually returning to normal. Authorities are committed to reducing inconveniences caused. Passengers are encouraged to check in with their airlines for the latest flight information,” the airport conveyed in a morning statement.
Airlines Initiate Recovery Actions
IndiGo Airlines, which faced significant disruptions due to the technical glitch, announced that operations are “progressively being restored.”
“The issue with the AMSS affecting Air Traffic Control has been resolved, allowing for a gradual return to normalcy at Delhi Airport and other affected airports in northern India. While operations stabilize, delays and congestion at terminals may persist for a while,” IndiGo informed in a statement.
The airline further remarked that normalization is anticipated within hours and encouraged passengers to access real-time updates before heading out.
Passenger Discontent Amid Chaos
The technical malfunction caused significant disruption at Delhi Airport, starting Thursday night when over 500 flights were delayed, leading to nearly 800 delays on Friday.
Departure delays averaged 45 minutes to an hour, with many arrivals also affected due to limited parking and congestion in the skies.
Thousands of travelers found themselves stranded in terminals, some awaiting hours as departure boards constantly displayed delays. Others reported being held on aircraft for extended durations prior to takeoff.
AAI Assures: No Compromise on Flight Safety
Sources indicated that the issue emerged when ATC personnel noticed missing flight plans on their displays, traced back to a malfunction in the AMSS that disrupted automatic message transfer. Controllers had to handle flight plans manually as the system ceased sending data to the auto track network.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) assured that, despite the massive disruptions, flight safety was not jeopardized.
“There was no effect on flights that were already airborne. The incident strictly involved the pre-departure message flow and flight plan processing,” the AAI stated.
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