A massive technical malfunction at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport plunged air travel into chaos on Wednesday, with over 100 flights experiencing significant delays and thousands of passengers facing hours-long waiting times.
System Failure Sparks Airport Chaos
The disruption began when the airport's departure management system experienced a critical failure, forcing airline staff to manually process passengers. This led to enormous queues snaking through Terminal 3 as check-in counters struggled to handle the sudden manual workload.
"The system just crashed completely," reported one airline official who wished to remain anonymous. "We're having to process every single passenger manually, which is taking 4-5 times longer than normal."
Passenger Frustration Mounts
Travelers took to social media to express their frustration, sharing images and videos of crowded terminals and endless queues. Many reported waiting for over three hours just to complete check-in procedures.
"Stuck at Delhi Airport for 3 hours already. The system is down and there's no information from anyone," tweeted one frustrated passenger.
Airlines Respond to Crisis
Major Indian carriers quickly acknowledged the situation and issued advisories to affected passengers:
- Air India: Urged passengers to arrive at the airport with additional time and carry physical copies of travel documents
- IndiGo: Confirmed network-wide impact and advised customers to check flight status before heading to airport
- SpiceJet: Acknowledged technical issues affecting multiple airlines at Delhi Airport
Technical Glitch or ATC Problem?
Initial reports suggested the issue might be related to Air Traffic Control systems, but airport authorities later clarified that the problem was specifically with the departure management system used by airlines for passenger processing.
Technical teams worked frantically to restore systems throughout the afternoon, with partial services gradually being restored. However, the cascading effect of the initial disruption continued to impact flight schedules for hours.
Travel Advisory for Passengers
Airport officials recommended that travelers scheduled for flights from Delhi:
- Contact their airlines directly for flight status updates
- Arrive at the airport at least 3-4 hours before departure time
- Keep physical copies of tickets and identification documents ready
- Monitor official airline social media channels for real-time updates
The incident highlights the vulnerability of modern air travel systems to technical failures and raises questions about backup protocols at one of India's busiest airports.
