Thousands Stranded as Greek Flights Grounded by Technical Failure

Thousands of airline passengers are stranded across Greece following the grounding of flights due to a significant technical failure affecting airspace radio frequencies. The Greek Civil Aviation Authority described the outage as “unprecedented,” leading to widespread cancellations and delays at major airports, including Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens and Thessaloniki Airport.

The disruption began early on March 15, 2024, with reports of the radio frequency issue first emerging around 07:00 Irish time. Long queues formed at Athens airport, where passengers faced delays for both domestic and international flights. An AFP reporter observed the chaos, highlighting the frustration of travelers as they awaited updates.

As the situation developed, some departures were allowed to resume, although inbound flights were still being instructed to return to their point of origin. Thessaloniki Airport has been completely closed due to the outage, further complicating travel plans for many. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Athens was diverted to Dubrovnik, Croatia, as a direct result of the technical issues.

According to the press office at Athens airport, “No plane landed or took off for at least two hours.” The airport, which served 31.6 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2023, experienced significant disruptions. For up to three hours, most aircraft bound for Greek airports were redirected to Turkey, according to Greek public television ERT.

By 11:00, air traffic began to resume gradually, but the fallout from the outage has resulted in considerable delays. Panagiotis Psarros, head of Greece’s air traffic controller union, characterized the incident as “very serious” and attributed the failure to what he described as “obsolete” airport equipment.

Passengers and airlines are now grappling with the repercussions of this technical failure, highlighting vulnerabilities in the aviation infrastructure. The Greek authorities are expected to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident to prevent similar occurrences in the future. As the situation evolves, travelers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest updates on flight status.