Air India software shutdown: 155 flights to be delayed till 8.30 pm today
New Delhi, Apr 27: Air India international and national flights have been affected after problems in the airline's SITA server. This is the second time in a year that the airline has been hit after its server shut down globally.
Air India, however, issued a statement on Saturday morning saying that the issue has been resolved.
"Air India System restored," Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
According to an Air India official, the server was down since around 3 AM Saturday morning due to which the airline is unable to issue boarding passes to passengers at airports across the world.
"SITA server is down. Due to which flight operation is affected. Our technical teams are on work and soon system may be recovered. Inconvenience is deeply regretted," Air India spokesperson said.
Air India's software solution is managed by SITA, a global airlines IT services major, which provides its check-in, boarding and baggage tracking technology.
Many passengers complained on social media about being stranded at airports.
Air India server crashed since 3.30AM. All flights cancelled. Thousands of passengers stranded at the airport. Nobody knows what is happening. Don’t go to the airport without confirming. I am also going back after spending couple of hours.
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) April 27, 2019
Passengers stranded for 4 hours..Unable to check in at Sydney airport. pic.twitter.com/zRJGTqe30g
— pa (@pratishrut) April 27, 2019
"155 flights, with an average duration of two hours, are expected to be delayed till 2030 hours," Air India spokesperson said.
The average number of flights that Air India group, which also includes subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express, flies daily are around 674.
A similar incident took place on June 23 last year when a technical glitch in the airline's check-in software delayed 25 of its flights across India.