ATHENS — Greece’s airspace was effectively shut down on Sunday after a major telecommunications failure crippled the country’s air traffic control systems, bringing nearly all flights to a halt and causing widespread disruption at airports nationwide.
The outage affected every airport in Greece, including the country’s busiest international hubs in Athens and Thessaloniki, according to reports by state broadcaster ERTNews citing the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA). Passengers were notified of cancellations and delays via text messages as authorities scrambled to assess the cause of the failure. Officials said it was not immediately clear when normal flight operations would resume.
In Israel, a spokesperson for the Airports Authority confirmed that Greek airspace had been closed until at least 4 p.m. local time, warning travelers to expect significant delays to both inbound and outbound flights.
The HCAA said the problem stemmed from a breakdown in the central radio and communications systems used by Greece’s air traffic control centers. As a result, air traffic controllers were reportedly unable to communicate with one another, making it impossible to safely manage flights over Greek territory.
The scale of the disruption was visible on Flightradar24, a real-time flight tracking service, which showed Greece’s skies nearly empty, a rare sight over one of Europe’s busiest air corridors.
According to ERT, the suspension of air traffic began at approximately 9 a.m. local time. Chaos quickly spread through airport terminals, particularly at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, where large crowds of stranded travelers gathered amid mounting uncertainty. Numerous flights were diverted to neighboring countries as airlines sought to reroute aircraft already in the air.
Authorities said investigations were underway to determine the precise cause of the communications failure. While no security incident was immediately reported, the shutdown underscored the vulnerability of critical aviation infrastructure and the cascading impact technical failures can have on international travel.
As passengers waited for updates, airlines and airport officials urged travelers to remain in contact with carriers for the latest information, warning that disruptions could continue even after systems are restored.
