New Delhi | RBN News
Airlines operating from major Indian airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, experienced temporary check-in disruptions on Thursday morning following a technical issue linked to Navitaire, a global airline reservation and departure control software provider.
According to sources familiar with the development, the disruption affected check-in systems between approximately 6:45 am and 7:28 am. During this period, passenger processing at airport counters and self-service kiosks was slowed due to system unavailability.
Airlines Impacted
Carriers including IndiGo, Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air were among those affected by the glitch.
Navitaire is widely used by airlines globally to manage bookings, reservations, check-in services, and departure control operations. When such systems experience outages, airlines are temporarily unable to complete passenger check-ins and boarding processes efficiently, leading to queues and short delays.
Nature and Duration of Disruption
Sources indicated that the outage lasted for over 40 minutes. The issue reportedly originated in the Asia-Pacific region before impacting certain airlines operating in Europe.
Systems were restored within roughly half an hour, and operations gradually returned to normal thereafter. While minor delays were reported during the affected window, no major flight cancellations or widespread disruptions were confirmed at the time of reporting.
Airport authorities did not issue an immediate public advisory, and airlines had not released official statements regarding the incident.
Operational Impact
During the disruption:
- Passenger check-in at counters slowed significantly
- Self-service kiosks faced temporary inaccessibility
- Some boarding processes were delayed
- Departure schedules experienced minor adjustments
Airport operations stabilized shortly after the software issue was resolved. Officials indicated that flight movements were largely maintained within manageable limits.
Background: Previous Technical Disruptions
This is not the first time airport operations in Delhi have been affected by technical issues. In November last year, nearly 800 flights were delayed at Indira Gandhi International Airport, following a major technical glitch in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system.
That disruption originated in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), a core system supporting ATC data transmission. Air traffic controllers were required to manually process flight plans, resulting in cascading delays across multiple airports.
At the time, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) described the situation as unprecedented.
What Happens Next
Technical teams from the affected airlines and Navitaire are expected to conduct an internal review of the incident to prevent recurrence. Given the reliance of airline operations on centralized digital systems, experts note that even brief outages can impact high-traffic morning schedules.
For now, airport operations at Delhi and other affected airports have resumed normal functioning, with airlines working to absorb minor schedule adjustments made during the disruption window.
Further updates are expected if airlines or airport authorities issue formal statements on the cause and mitigation measures related to the glitch.
