Pune: A global outage of Microsoft services on Friday, July 19, led to widespread air travel disruptions, severely impacting airports in India and abroad.
Pune Airport experienced significant issues, with 19 outbound and 20 inbound flights canceled and more than 30 flights delayed. Passengers were forced to wait in long queues at both terminals due to the need for manual boarding pass issuance.
The outage affected services at major airports across India, including Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. Indigo Airlines was the hardest hit, with the highest number of cancellations. Passengers faced considerable inconvenience as the issue remained unresolved until late Friday night.
The list of 19 canceled flights from Pune includes destinations such as Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Indore, Bengaluru, Chennai, Amritsar, Varanasi, and Guwahati.
Santosh Dhoke, Pune Airport Director said, "With flights delayed and canceled, passengers crowded the terminals and security hold areas. The dual-terminal operation at Pune Airport helped distribute the passenger load."
"Check-in counters saw long lines, and with online check-in and boarding pass facilities disabled, airline staff issued handwritten passes. The airport administration increased check-in counters and deployed extra staff to minimize inconvenience."
The 19 canceled flights from Pune included:
Pune-Delhi (2285)
Pune-Ahmedabad (2013)
Pune-Delhi (2278)
Pune-Hyderabad (103)
Pune-Kolkata (671)
Pune-Indore (284)
Pune-Bengaluru (361)
Pune-Hyderabad (336)
Pune-Chennai (6745)
Pune-Bengaluru (6564)
Pune-Amritsar (721)
Pune-Ahmedabad (819)
Pune-Ahmedabad (0547)
Pune-Varanasi (0672)
Pune-Delhi (2279)
Pune-Guwahati (0623)
Pune-Delhi (2419)
Pune-Bengaluru (0982)
Pune-Delhi (2418)
Airports across the country, including Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, were severely affected. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol also tweeted on social media platform X emphasizing his ministry's efforts to minimize inconvenience to passengers.