The outage began around 7pm on October 27 and lasted more than an hour, according to reports by The Times of India, Hindustan Times and PTI. Check-in counters, boarding e-gates and DigiYatra facilities were affected, prompting airport personnel to process passengers manually.
The disruption added to existing delays caused by air traffic control congestion, airlines said. IndiGo and Air India services were among those affected as staff worked to keep passenger processing moving.
According to Flightradar24 data analysed by Hindustan Times, 18 of the 44 passenger flights scheduled to depart between 7pm and 9pm left at least an hour late, while three were cancelled. Two additional flights remained on the ground at 10.37pm, nearly two hours after their scheduled departure.
A separate PTI report said the outage affected flight operations, citing sources who reported that 327 flights were delayed. The figure highlights the broader disruption beyond the departure window analysed by Hindustan Times.
The network failure rendered automated e-gates at the terminal entrance inoperable, requiring Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to clear passengers individually, according to people familiar with the situation.
Passengers faced slower processing as security personnel attempted to manage frustration over the queues.
Airport officials said procedures were switched to manual mode in line with established protocols. Although check-in counters remained operational, processing took longer than usual.
Recovery was also uneven, with an airport official telling Hindustan Times at 9.36pm that the system continued to fluctuate as operations moved towards normal.
Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the operator controlled by Adani Enterprises, acknowledged the temporary network disruption but said manual measures were introduced to limit passenger inconvenience and maintain essential services.
“The disruption has not affected airport or flight operations so far,” MIAL said in a statement, according to The Times of India.
The operator reiterated that teams had implemented manual processing procedures to maintain continuity. However, airport officials quoted anonymously by Hindustan Times confirmed that the system had been down for about an hour, while reports of delayed departures and cancellations indicated that passengers experienced operational consequences.
The incident highlights the reliance of major airports on digital systems for check-in, passenger verification and boarding. While manual procedures can help maintain essential services during technical failures, they can also slow passenger movement and compound delays when disruptions occur during busy evening departure periods.
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