The Microsoft 365 outage impacted the movement of several flights at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru on Friday. Around 53 flights were cancelled till 8.30 p.m. which included 25 arrivals and 28 departures. A total of 77 flights were delayed. Of these, 55 were Indigo flights, 12 were AirAsia flights, seven were Akasa Air flights, two were Air India Express flights, and one was a SpiceJet flight.
Most of the flights that were delayed or cancelled were Indigo flights. As of 4 p.m., 28 Indigo flights were cancelled.
There were long queues at the departures as airlines opted for manual check-ins, including issuing handwritten boarding passes. Due to this, many passengers were sitting outside the Terminal-1 departure area waiting for their flights.
Airport staff had made additional seating arrangements as the number of passengers waiting for their flight increased as more and more flights were delayed or cancelled.
List of flights whose arrival in Bengaluru was delayed at 16.14 IST on July 19, 2024. The Microsoft 365 outage impacted the movement of flights at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: Hemanth C.S.
Operations were impacted since 10.40 a.m. as some flights were delayed or cancelled.
A Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) spokesperson said Indigo, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet were impacted and that airline staff shifted to checking in passengers manually.
The BIAL spokesperson said, “A global outage with the Navitaire Departure Control System (DCS) has been affecting operations of some airlines across their network, including KIA, since 10.40 IST on July 19, 2024. 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 this situation, Indigo, Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air have initiated manual check-ins to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and flight schedules.
Air India system fine
Airport officials said that Air India systems were working fine by evening, and international operations were running smoothly.
Of the passengers who were stranded at the airport included children, elderly, and also those from the corporate sector. “It is unfortunate that this has happened, I had a flight to Mumbai which has been delayed. Hopefully things would get in order and operations would return to normalcy,” said a passenger.
No point in blaming
Many passengers said as the delays and cancellations were due to a global outage there was no point in blaming the airlines or airport authorities. The airport also issued a travel advisory asking passengers to get in touch with their respective airline.
“In response to this situation, the affected airlines have taken proactive measures to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and flight schedules,” stated the advisory.
Published - July 19, 2024 01:48 pm IST
