Several flights delayed, cancelled at Bengaluru airport due to Microsoft glitch

BENGALURU: Several flights from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) were affected on Friday as airlines across the country reported that their systems across the network were impacted by an outage in Microsoft Azure.

Passengers were seen standing in long queues for several hours at the check-in counters of airlines including IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa and Air India. With servers down, the airlines had resorted manual check-in.

Several flights were also cancelled and SpiceJet was refunding its passengers. The airport was full with people waiting to board flights to their destinations.

A spokesperson for Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which runs KIA, said, “A global outage with the Navitaire Departure Control System (DCS) affected operations of some airlines across their network, including Bengaluru Airport since 10.40 am”.

“Indigo, Akasa and SpiceJet in T1 and Air India Express in T2 are among the impacted airlines. The Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Common Use Self Service (CUSS) systems are also experiencing disruptions. In response to the situation, Indigo, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa have taken proactive measures by initiating manual check-ins to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and flight schedules”, the spokesperson said.

Across the country, more than 200 flights were cancelled by domestic carriers. IndiGo alone said it has cancelled about 200. Flights have been impacted globally.