New Delhi: A major glitch in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) resulted in severe chaos on Friday morning. As many as 100 flights were delayed, officials said.
The technical malfunction affected both arrivals and departures, an official statement by authorities said. In some cases, the delays were over 30 minutes.
“Due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, flight operations at IGIA are experiencing delays. Our team is actively working with all stakeholders including DIAL to resolve it at the earliest,” the statement read.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused,” it said, advising passengers to remain in contact with their respective airlines for real-time updates. ”
Passengers reported extended wait times, with some flights getting stranded on the runway before receiving permission to take-off.
A passenger of an Air India flight told news agency IANS that their flight was grounded for over half an hour, with crew attributing the delay to the ATC issue. Air India staff assured passengers that operations were expected to normalize soon.
The glitch also led to congestion at boarding gates, further compounding the inconvenience for travellers.
On Wednesday, there was severe chaos at airports across the country due to an Air India systems glitch. The airline had announced that operations returned to normal after a third-party connectivity issue impacted check-in systems.
“The system has since been restored. However, some of our flights may continue to be delayed for some time as the situation normalises progressively,” Air India stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Airport authorities emphasized their ongoing coordination with stakeholders to minimize delays and restore full functionality.