Air Traffic Chaos: Tech Glitch Disrupts Flights at Delhi Airport

A technical problem in the Air Traffic Control system at Delhi airport caused significant disruption to flight operations on Friday. Airlines including IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet experienced delays, with 70-80 flights affected. The Automatic Message Switching System's issue led to manual flight plan processing.

Aircraft movement at Delhi airport faced severe disruption on Friday due to a technical glitch in the Air Traffic Control system, the Airports Authority of India reported. The problem affected airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet, causing considerable delays in one of the globe's busiest aviation hubs.

Upon failure of the Automatic Message Switching System, which is crucial for supporting ATC data, controllers resorted to manual processing. This manual intervention led to delays of 30 minutes or more for some 70-80 flights, as confirmed by both AAI and affected airlines.

Despite ongoing landings, takeoffs were substantially delayed, with an average wait time of 55 minutes. Airlines have yet to receive an official timeline for the resolution of the issue, impacting passengers significantly amid data from Flightradar24 showing widespread delays.

(With inputs from agencies.)