Greece airspace closed: Flight cancellations and delays | World | News
Greece has temporarily closed its entire airspace due to communication issues. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority said the airspace would remain closed until 4pm. Tourists are being warned to expect widespread delays if travelling to or from Greece.
Greek news outlet Kathimerini reported that a “technical problem” at Athens Flight Information Region was affecting flights in and out of the capital city’s main airport as well as regional flight hubs. Air Live said its analysis of flight trackers showed Greece‘s airspace was largely empty. The outlet said many flights were being diverted to nearby countries such as Italy, Turkey and Cyprus.
Arrivals and departures at airports including Athens Eleftherios Venizelos and Thessaloniki were suspended from about 9am local time (7am BST), according to reports.
Greek media reported that the problem appeared to be linked to radio frequency systems at Athens and Macedonia Area Control Centres which reportedly went down, knocking out a centre all aircraft entering Greek airspace have to communicate with.
Pilots of aircraft already in the air were being forced to land manually for safety, according to Air Live. Panagiotis Psaros, President of Greece’s Air Traffic Controllers Association, told Kathimerini that as a result of the malfunction all departures from Greek airports were suspended.
He added: “At the same time efforts are under way to manage aircraft already in the air so they can land safely.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many flights from the UK to Greece were affected by the disruption. A Sky Express flight from London Gatwick to Athens scheduled to depart at 1.25pm on Sunday was delayed to 3.40pm, but it wasn’t clear if this was due to the technical issue in Greece.
EasyJet and Wizzair flights to Athens from London Luton Airport appeared to be unaffected, with no delays reported on the flight hub’s website. Anyone due to fly to Greece today should contact their airline for more information.
In an alert posted on Athens International Airport website this morning, the hub advised passengers that the Hellenic Aviation Service Provider had begun a “gradual release” of some flights.
It added: “Efforts for full restoration of the technical issues are [continuing]. For any further information regarding your flight please contact your airline.”
Thessaloniki Airport pointed to the same technical issue affecting Greek airspace and warned of “delays and restrictions” to its flight schedule.
