Amadeus software glitch triggers 45-minute airport check-in slowdown

A brief technical glitch in Amadeus — one of the world’s largest airline software platforms — caused widespread check-in delays at airports on Tuesday, slowing passenger processing for about 45 minutes.

Airlines reported that the slowdown originated from an issue within the Amadeus system, which supports core aviation functions including ticketing, seat inventory, check-in, boarding, and departure control.

Because these processes are interlinked, even a short disruption can quickly create queues across terminals.

Air India confirmed that the system stabilised shortly after the incident and that flights continued as scheduled.

Amadeus acts as the digital backbone for many airlines and travel agencies, powering both its Global Distribution System (GDS) and Passenger Service Systems (PSS).

The GDS connects airlines, hotels, rail operators, car rentals, and cruise lines to travel sellers, displaying schedules, availability, and fares in real time so bookings can be made instantly.

It does this by pulling live information from airline reservation and inventory databases; it does not store inventory on its own.

Beyond distribution, Amadeus also runs key operational systems for airlines — from reservations and inventory management to departure control and baggage handling. Some airports use Amadeus tools to manage gates, passenger flow, and resource allocation.

Because the platform is centralised and used globally, an outage affects multiple airlines simultaneously.

With millions of bookings and check-ins processed each day, even a brief disruption can overwhelm manual backup procedures and ripple across airports worldwide. Similar incidents in the past have caused delays from London to Singapore.