Flights across Greece were canceled on Sunday after a radio frequency signal failure paralyzed air traffic communications, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and grounding airports, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Details
Little was understood about the cause of the disruptions, which began early Sunday morning and quickly escalated. Some overflights of Greek and regional airspace were still being serviced, but restrictions were imposed on airport operations for safety reasons, the Greek civil aviation authorities said.
Dozens of flights were disrupted. "For some reason, all frequencies were suddenly lost... We could not contact planes in the sky," Panayiotis Psarros, head of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, told state broadcaster ERT.
He said the problem appeared to be related to disruptions of central radio frequency systems at the Athens and Macedonian Area Control Center, the country's largest air traffic control center, located in Athens. It controls the Athens Flight Information Region, a vast expanse of airspace under the control of Greek authorities.
Flight tracking systems showed that Greek airspace was largely empty. ERT reported that arrivals and departures at the airport were suspended at 9:00 local time (09:00 Kyiv time), reporting from the departure terminal at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens, which was crowded with passengers.
"We were not informed about the cause of this problem... certainly, the equipment we have is practically obsolete. We have raised this issue many times in the past," Psarros said.
A Transport Ministry official told Reuters that some planes heading north and east were allowed to depart. According to the official, more than 75 flights were delayed.
In Israel, a spokesman for the Airports Authority said that Greek airspace was closed until 16:00 local time (16:00 Kyiv time), advising travelers to expect delays in arrivals and departures.