The Delhi Airport is currently experiencing significant delays, so please keep an eye out in case you are scheduled to fly in or out of Delhi today.
Delhi Airport witnesses ATC issues, massively backed up
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is experiencing a slowdown in flight operations on Friday morning, November 7, 2025, after a technical fault in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system disrupted both departures and arrivals. Airlines and airport authorities acknowledged the issue publicly and warned passengers to expect significant waits, with advisories posted on X (formerly Twitter). As of mid-morning, reports from airlines, the airport operator and multiple outlets indicated that well over 100 flights were running late, with some delays rippling across networks beyond Delhi.
The disruption began on Thursday evening, November 6, and extended into the Friday morning peak, compounding congestion. Flightradar24 data indicates an average departure delay of around 60 minutes, with dozens of flights affected in a rolling fashion from the previous night into Friday. Delhi is one of the world’s busiest hubs; such glitches quickly create knock-on effects across airline schedules.
Flight operations at Delhi Airport are experiencing delays due to a technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which supports Air Traffic Control data. Controllers are processing flight plans manually, leading to some delays. Technical teams are working to…
— Airports Authority of India (@AAI_Official) November 7, 2025
Airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) said the problem lay with the ATC system and urged passengers to check with their airlines for real-time updates. DIAL’s message—shared via a passenger advisory on X—confirmed delays “due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system,” adding that teams were working with ATC to restore normal operations. Multiple media outlets carried the advisory verbatim or embedded the post.
Passenger Advisory issued at 11:20 Hours#DelhiAirport #PassengerAdvisory #DELAdvisory pic.twitter.com/Xy7xY6gHkr
— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) November 7, 2025
IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, posted on X, stating that “flight operations at Delhi and several northern regions are impacted,” and apologising for extended wait times both on the ground and onboard. Air India also issued a morning advisory acknowledging longer waits across its Delhi operations. These advisories aligned with passenger accounts of aircraft held at gates or on taxiways while clearances were spaced out.
https://twitter.com/Aviatorflyboy/status/1986661149514080431
Technical sources and industry reports indicate the failure of a specific subsystem within the ATC technology stack. Issues exist with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which provides flight plan data to the Auto Track System (ATS). With AMSS degraded, controllers had to resort to more manual handling of flight plans, slowing sequencing and spacing.
The impact was felt on both domestic and international operations. Reuters and Bloomberg each reported widespread disruption across airlines, including IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet, with congestion building in terminals and at stands as the morning peaks collided with rolling delays. With IGIA handling roughly 1,500 movements on a typical day, even a modest reduction in flow rate produces queues for pushback, departure slots and arriving gates, and extends turn-around times.
This morning’s outage followed a week of turbulence unrelated to the current software fault. On November 5, Delhi suffered severe congestion amid shifting winds (easterlies), VIP movements and a spate of GPS-spoofing alerts reported by pilots and controllers. Authorities have not linked today’s AMSS/ATC glitch to those earlier navigation-signal incidents. Still, the back-to-back disturbances have strained schedules and crews and primed the network for a larger cascade once the ATC system stumbles.
On social media, passengers continued to post images and updates of long queues and aircraft holds. At the same time, the airline replied, pointing to a system-side fault and asking travellers to monitor their apps and websites. IndiGo’s and Air India’s X feeds reflected that operational posture—triaging rebookings and managing expectations—while DIAL’s advisory maintained that ATC and airport teams were jointly working on the fix.
As of the time of writing, restoration efforts were ongoing, with no definitive “all clear” published by regulators. Based on historical patterns at Delhi and other large hubs, once the ATC system stabilises, the backlog typically clears over several hours, not minutes, as crews, aircraft and stands realign. For travellers, the most reliable course remains airline-specific channels and live flight trackers, since ground holds and revised slot times can change rapidly as ATC meters departures and arrivals.
Bottomline
Delhi Airport is experiencing some ATC issues today, resulting in an average delay of 1 hour for departures from Delhi Airport. A fix has not yet been applied, so this issue is expected to continue. Please check with your airline or your favourite air travel tracking app before you depart.
What do you make of the delays at Delhi Airport?
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