Air traffic restored in Greece after radio frequency loss

ATHENS

Air traffic in Greece was fully restored on Jan. 5 after a technical problem knocked out airspace radio frequencies, the country's civil aviation authority has said, calling the outage "unprecedented.”

At Greece's main airport, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens, passengers were stuck in long queues as several domestic and international flights were delayed or grounded altogether.

The radio frequency loss was first reported around 07:00 GMT on Jan. 4.

"No plane landed or took off for at least two hours," said the press office at Athens airport, where 31.6 million passengers transited in the first 11 months of 2025.

For up to three hours, most aircraft headed for Greek airports were redirected to Türkiye, according to Greek public television ERT.

Panagiotis Psarros, head of Greece's air traffic controller union, called the incident "very serious" and blamed what he said was "obsolete" airport equipment.

The cause of the disruption has not yet been identified. However, Greek public broadcaster ERT reported that an alternative communication system was put in place, allowing some flights to depart.

ERT added that a comprehensive joint investigation is underway, with the participation of the country’s civil aviation authority and other relevant bodies.