Delhi Airport Paralyzed by ATC Glitch, Hundreds of Flights Delayed

As of November 7, 2025, a major technical glitch in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at India's busiest airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi, has caused widespread disruptions to flight operations. The Delhi Airport Authority has confirmed that both arrivals and departures were impacted, with air traffic controllers forced to manually prepare flight plans.

The issue has been attributed to a problem in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which feeds flight data into the Auto Track System (ATS) to generate flight plans. Since Thursday evening, controllers have been unable to retrieve flight plans automatically, leading to a time-consuming manual entry process that has resulted in severe congestion and cascading delays across airlines.

In response, major carriers like SpiceJet, IndiGo, and Air India have issued alerts to passengers, warning them of the ongoing ATC issue and advising them to stay in touch with their respective airlines for the latest updates. The Delhi Airport has also acknowledged the inconvenience caused and requested passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

According to flight-tracking data, the average delay for flight departures at IGIA stood at around 50 minutes as of November 7. Authorities are currently working to resolve the technical glitch and restore normal operations at the airport, which handles over 1,500 flight movements daily.

This marks the second major air traffic disruption at Delhi Airport this week, following earlier delays caused by GPS spoofing and sudden wind shifts. With both weather-related and system-related issues impacting the airport, thousands of passengers have been affected by the ongoing operational challenges.