Greek airspace was closed on Sunday morning. The reason for this was a technical problem. The air traffic controllers have now switched to alternative frequencies.
Jan 4, 2026, 11:14 amJan 4, 2026, 2:21 p.m
After a serious technical breakdown and the complete standstill of air traffic in Greece, the first aircraft took off and landed again on Sunday afternoon. “The air traffic controllers are using alternative frequencies and can now handle the first flights again,” said the President of the Association of Air Traffic Controllers Panagiotis Psarros to the Greek TV station ERTNews. He was unable to say when air traffic would return to normal.
The president of the Association of Air Traffic Controllers ruled out a cyber attack. Rather, he criticized the state of the communication systems: “Our systems are ancient,” he told the broadcaster ERTNews. The air traffic controllers’ union has already pointed this out several times. At times, the air traffic controllers were unable to communicate with each other or with the pilots.
The glitch had repercussions far beyond Greece. Flightradar24, an online service for real-time flight tracking, showed almost empty Greek airspace while planes massed over surrounding countries because they had to be diverted. (sda/dpa)
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