Athens (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Greece experienced widespread flight cancellations and diversions after an air-traffic control radio failure, affecting thousands of travelers.
As reported by Simon Calder of The Independent, hundreds of flights in Greek airspace were delayed or disrupted after a technical failure affected air traffic control.
How did Greece’s air-traffic control failure disrupt flights across the country?
The Greek carrier Aegean cancelled multiple flights, primarily affecting routes to and from Athens.
It told passengers that a
“technical issue affecting the radio frequency systems of the Hellenic Aviation Service Provider, which has been ongoing since the early morning hours continues to cause a significant reduction in capacity within Greek airspace.”
Athens-bound flights have been redirected to Rome and Dubrovnik, while SAS passengers to Thessaloniki are in Budapest, and Transavia from Amsterdam diverted to Tirana. The Vilnius-Heraklion flight is now in Larnaca, Cyprus.
One British traveller, John Berry, said,
“Hopefully we will still get home tonight. Just waiting for the flight LS1709 from Manchester to take off to collect us, as this is the last flight out of Athens for Jet2 until February.”
The Jet2 flight heading out is en route and should land around 7 pm, four hours behind its scheduled time.
Passengers from Manchester were informed by EasyJet that their Athens flight was cancelled due to an Athens Airport airspace closure.
It added,
“The disruption to your flight is outside of our control and is considered to be an extraordinary circumstance.”
One of British Airways’ morning flights to Athens was cancelled, and Aegean also suspended its evening Athens-Heathrow service, including the overnight return.
Flights from Athens to Malta, Rome, and Bologna have been cancelled. Passengers affected have the right to be rebooked on another airline and provided with meals and accommodation until they reach their destination.
Athens airport later said,
“The Hellenic Aviation Service Provider started gradual release of some flights in accordance with air-traffic control capacity availability. Efforts for full restoration of the technical issues are continued.”
Panagiotis Psarros, head of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, said,
“For some reason all frequencies were suddenly lost .. We could not communicate with aircraft in the sky.”
He added,
“We haven’t been informed about the cause of this problem… certainly the equipment we have is virtually ancient. We have raised this many times in the past.”
How many airports does Greece have?
Greece has 39 airports serving public air travel, reflecting the need for a wide-reaching aviation network.
The busiest airport in Greece is Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos). It is located 20 km east of Athens and handles around 40% of all flights in the country.
Athens International Airport has an annual capacity of over 26 million passengers, but regularly handles more. In 2024, it recorded a record 31.85 million, exceeding its original design capacity.
What are the air passengers’ rights rules?
In case of flight cancellations, passengers can opt for a full refund, immediate re-routing, or re-routing at a later date. Compensation of €250 to €600 may apply if the cancellation occurs within 14 days and is not caused by extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather.
If a flight is delayed 2 to 4 hours or more, airlines must provide passengers with food, drinks, a place to stay, and ways to communicate, depending on how far the flight goes.
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers denied boarding on valid tickets are entitled to compensation of €250–€600, as well as a refund or re-routing, with amounts reduced if the replacement flight arrives shortly after the original schedule.
