Flight delays at Delhi airport over 'technical issue'

A technical issue impacted air traffic control, requiring manual flight processing and causing delays.

India's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital Delhi said its Air Traffic Control (ATC) system faced a technical glitch on Friday morning, impacting several flights at one of the world's busiest air hubs.

"Due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control System, flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport are experiencing delays," the airport said in an advisory posted on X. 

Air operators report delays

Top domestic carriers IndiGo, Air India and Spicejet said their operations were affected, leading to longer wait times. IndiGo, which has the country's largest air traffic share of nearly 65%, said flight operations at Delhi and several northern regions were impacted.

Meanwhile, the Airport Authority of India said there was a technical issue with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) which supports ATC data.

"Controllers are processing flight plans manually, leading to some delays. Technical teams are working to restore the system at the earliest," it said in a Statement on X. 

Data from air travel recorder FlightRadar24 showed dozens of fights affected with an average 55-minute delay in departure.

The Delhi Airport handled about 78 million passengers in 2024 and over 110 million just between January and August of 2025, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Edited by: Kieran Burke