Delhi Airport Returns to Normalcy After ATC System Glitch Delays 800+ Flights

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Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the country's busiest airport, has largely returned to normal operations after a technical glitch with its air traffic control system delayed over 800 flights on Friday. The issue, which occurred with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) around 5:45 am on Friday, continued for over 15 hours before being resolved by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at around 9 pm on Friday. The AMSS supports the air traffic control's flight planning process. Airline operators, including IndiGo, said that airport teams and air traffic control are working to fully restore systems and stabilize operations. While some flights were cancelled on Friday, affecting hundreds of passengers, the situation is expected to normalize over the next few hours. Passengers are advised to stay in touch with their respective airlines for the latest flight updates. According to flight tracking data, over 500 flights were delayed at the airport on Saturday, including arrivals and departures. The specific reasons for the delays could not be ascertained, but officials attributed it to a backlog from Friday. The issue was first detected on Thursday afternoon, but the outage occurred at around 5:45 am on Friday. Air traffic controllers had to prepare flight plans manually, a time-consuming process that required additional manpower. The AAI deployed extra staff to manually process flight plans, and a team of officials from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and AAI personnel are still on site to ensure uninterrupted and safe air traffic operations. The AMSS systems are now up and functional, but some delays may persist due to backlogs. Airport officials assured that the situation will return to normal soon.