Thousands Stranded as Technical Failure Grounds Flights in Greece

URGENT UPDATE: Thousands of airline passengers are currently stranded across Greece after a major technical failure grounded flights at multiple airports today. The Greek civil aviation authority has confirmed the outage, describing it as “unprecedented” due to the loss of airspace radio frequencies.

The disruption began around 7 AM Irish time, severely affecting operations at Greece’s largest airport, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens. Long queues formed as travelers faced delays and cancellations of both domestic and international flights. An AFP reporter observed the chaos firsthand, with passengers expressing frustration over the situation.

As of now, while some departures have resumed, inbound flights are being instructed to return to their points of origin. The situation has led to the complete closure of Thessaloniki Airport. Notably, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Athens was diverted to Dubrovnik in Croatia due to the ongoing issue.

“No plane landed or took off for at least two hours,” reported the press office at Athens airport, which managed a staggering 31.6 million passengers in the first eleven months of 2025. For up to three hours, most aircraft scheduled to land in Greece were redirected to Turkey, according to Greek public television ERT.

Authorities indicated that air traffic began to gradually resume around 11 AM, but widespread delays persist. Panagiotis Psarros, head of Greece’s air traffic controller union, labeled the incident as “very serious” and attributed the failure to what he described as “obsolete” airport equipment.

This developing situation raises significant concerns for travelers and airline operations in Greece. Passengers are urged to check with airlines for updates on their flight statuses. The extent of the impact remains to be fully assessed as authorities work to restore normal operations.

Stay tuned for further updates as this story unfolds, and share this information to keep others informed.