New Delhi: After a global outage affecting Microsoft's cloud services, airports across India are facing unexpected flight delays. Passengers have taken to social media to share their experiences, posting images of handwritten boarding passes being issued due to the disruption. This unforeseen issue has caused several inconveniences for travellers nationwide.


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In response to the outage, IndiGo has started using handwritten boarding passes to keep flights running smoothly. Akshay Kothari, a passenger at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, shared his experience on X (formerly Twitter).



“The Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first handwritten boarding pass today,” he shared a photo of his manually issued boarding pass along with his post.


The switch from digital systems sparked a variety of responses on social media. One comment noted, “Wow back to pen paper.” Another remarked, “Sometimes, the old-school way is still the best when technology lets us down.”


Indigo's Response




IndiGo issued a statement addressing the widespread disruption. “Our systems across the network are impacted by an ongoing issue with Microsoft Azure, resulting in increased wait times at our contact centres and airports,” the airline said. They advised passengers to expect slower check-ins and longer queues and urged those travelling within the next 24 hours to contact them only if necessary.


The outage also impacted other airlines, including Air India, Vistara, and SpiceJet, leading to flight cancellations and delays.


Response from Government and Industry


Indian Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the IT ministry is working with Microsoft to resolve the outage. He stated, "MEITY is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage. NIC network is not affected."