Greek flights restart after radio loss grinds airport operations to halt

Air postulation was disrupted and determination was nary mode to pass with craft implicit the airspace, authorities said.

Incoming and outgoing flights were temporarily suspended successful airports crossed Greece aft airspace vigor frequencies were mislaid owed to a method occupation that has confounded authorities.

Thousands of travellers were seen stranded astatine airports for respective hours connected Sunday arsenic aerial postulation was crippled and communications were chopped off.

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Authorities said the disruption began conscionable earlier 9am section clip (07:00 GMT), erstwhile astir aviation vigor frequencies were deed by monolithic interference, forcing a precautionary shutdown of Greek airspace.

Greece’s civilian aviation authorization said an indeterminate “noise” impacted vigor channels, but the origin was not clear.

“The ‘noise’ observed successful the frequencies was successful the signifier of continuous, involuntary emission,” it said successful a statement.

People stitchery arsenic airports crossed Greece suspended arrivals and departures connected Sunday astatine the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, adjacent Athens, Greece, January 4, 2026 [Louiza Vradi/Reuters]

Panagiotis Psarros, seat of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, said each frequencies were abruptly lost, truthful determination was nary mode to pass with craft successful the sky.

He besides blamed aged systems, saying the ageing infrastructure should person been replaced galore years ago.

The authorities were lone capable to work flyovers for hours earlier constricted services were restored by Sunday day done backup frequencies. Air postulation has been resuming progressively and is present afloat restored, they said.

Christos Dimas, Greece’s infrastructure and transport minister, said the incidental did not compromise formation safety.

Around 45 flights were leaving Greek airports each hr by precocious afternoon, an authoritative said. The property bureau astatine the country’s civilian aviation authorization said 31.6 cardinal passengers transited done Athens airdrome successful the archetypal 11 months of 2025.

The aerial postulation controllers’ relation said the breakdown affected each frequencies utilized connected the ground, and immoderate frequencies utilized by Athens Approach, an aerial postulation power portion liable for managing craft flying successful and retired of the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport adjacent Athens.

Among its responsibilities are radar monitoring for harmless separation of craft successful the entity arsenic good arsenic issuing instructions connected velocity and altitude levels.

The relation called the standard of Sunday’s incidental “unprecedented and unacceptable”.