- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Fri, 07 Nov 2025 05:35 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) plunged into chaos as several domestic and international flights were delayed. As per information available on Flightradar24.com, which tracks flight movement, over 300 flights have been delayed at the airport. Additionally, the departure time of the flights has increased to more than 50 minutes. Long queues of passengers were seen near the boarding gates and hundreds of passengers were waiting inside the airport for their respective flight updates.
Major air carriers like IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa Air faced delays in the normal flight schedule due to the technical snarl. The state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), which provides air traffic control and navigation services, said technical teams are working to restore the system at the earliest.
"All airline operations at Delhi Airport are currently delayed. Concerned authorities are working on resolving the issue at the earliest," Delhi airport operator DIAL said in a post on X at 1:42 pm.
Did The ATS System Face A Cyber Attack?
As the long queues of passengers at the IGIA continued, an IT ministry official confirmed that the disruptions were not due to a cyber attack. The anonymous IT ministry official said, quoted by the Hindustan Times, "A technical glitch occurred in the course of upgrading the Air Traffic Control (ATC) software, which is causing the delays."
The official further said, “There is supposed to be an automatic updation of flight plans, which stopped functioning. It is not a cyber attack.” Government Officials who are currently involved in the matter said that the IT ministry double-checked the entire operation at Delhi airport to rule out the possibility of a cyber attack.
Why Did The Technical Glitch Occur At IGIA?
According to the AAI, flight operations at the Delhi airport faced a major roadblock due to a technical glitch in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) which supports the ATC flight data. As a result, the Air Traffic Controllers are unable to get automatic plans of the incoming and outgoing flights since Thursday evening.
The glitch in the AMSS has also affected the Auto Track System (ATS), which automatically makes the flight plans to ensure a smooth takeoff and landing. With the ATS malfunction continuing, the ATC is making all these flight plans manually, which is leading to a slower flight movement on the ground and causing further delays.
The IGIA is the country’s busiest airport with over 1,500 flight movements daily.
Travel advisories have been issued to the passengers by major Indian domestic carriers Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet. "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 experiencing delays," IndiGo said in a post on X.
(With inputs from PTI)