Flight operations were severely affected after a technical glitch in the AMSS (Automatic Message Switching System) at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Friday.
After this system failure, Air Traffic Control (ATC) had to leave the automatic mode and work in manual mode.
This required each flight’s data to be processed manually and aircraft distances and traffic to be calculated manually, causing flights to operate much slower than normal.
⏱️ Average delay of more than an hour
According to data from Flightradar24, an average delay of 62 minutes was recorded in flights from Delhi airport.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that its technical teams are busy restoring the AMSS system.
Delhi Airport handles 1,500 flight movements daily and 60–70 flights take off and land per hour under normal conditions.
The automation failure caused the backlog to increase rapidly and more than 100 flights were directly affected.
🏙️ Mumbai airport also affected, but operations normal
Mumbai Airport (MIAL) said that the delay advisory issued earlier was issued in error.
The airport management clarified that all flight operations in Mumbai are continuing normal and smoothly.
📡What is AMSS system?
AMSS i.e. Automatic Message Switching System is the technical system that shares all flight plans, weather updates and navigational data related to flights between ATC and airlines.
When this is discontinued, all data entry has to be done manually, making operations slow and error-prone.
👥 Passenger problems
Due to technical glitches, passengers had to wait for several hours.
Timings and gates of many flights were changed, causing inconvenience to passengers.
AAI has asked passengers to stay in touch with their airlines and keep checking updated flight schedules.
📢 AAI advisory
“There has been a technical glitch in AMSS at Delhi Airport. Our teams are working to restore the system. Passengers are requested to remain patient and seek latest flight information from the airline.”
