An hour-long server problem with IndiGo’s booking system led to flight delays and over-crowding at airport terminals on Monday, adding to the chaos already caused by the cascading effect from Sunday, when pollution levels affected visibility in the national capital and threw airport operations into disarray.
The computerised reservation system failed for almost an hour, according to the airline. The glitch occurred at about 9 a.m., forcing the airline’s airport staff to resort to manual check-in of passengers. Though the technical glitch was subsequently rectified, the impact on IndiGo’s flight operations extended through the day.
“Our system is up now but has disrupted operations across the network,” the airline informed passengers on Twitter around 3 p.m.
As of 5 p.m., 60 flights had departed after delays ranging from 40 minutes to 90 minutes from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport due to a combination of factors, according to aviation website flightradar24.com. Mumbai saw 50 departures delayed during the same time frame, and Kolkata 43.
According to airport sources in Chennai, there were 15 flights delayed between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
IndiGo is the largest airline in the country and has almost 50% market share. It operates almost 1,500 flights every day.
