Air traffic across Greece was brought to a standstill for several hours today due to what officials are calling an “unprecedented” disruption in radio frequencies. Flights were gradually resuming by midday, but the incident caused significant delays and rerouting.
According to officials at Athens International Airport, which handled over 31.6 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025, no planes were able to land or take off for at least two hours. Many flights destined for Greek airports were diverted to Turkey, with delays lasting up to three hours, according to Greek state broadcaster ERT.
Panayotis Psarros, head of the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association, stated that all frequencies suddenly went down, making communication with aircraft in the air impossible. He attributed the issue to a failure in the central radio frequency systems within the Athens and Macedonia area control center, the largest air traffic control center in the country. This center is responsible for monitoring the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR), a vast area of airspace.
The Air Traffic Controllers Association emphasized that controllers were utilizing all available means to ensure flight safety. They described the scale of today’s disruption as “unprecedented and unacceptable.” The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that some flights within Greek airspace and the wider region remained operational, but restrictions were imposed on airport operations for safety reasons.
By noon, authorities confirmed that limited services had been restored after pilots resorted to using backup frequencies to communicate with air traffic control units on the ground. A Greek official reported that the number of flights departing from Greek airports had increased to 45 per hour later in the afternoon.
The incident is currently under investigation to determine the exact cause of the radio frequency failure. Further updates will be provided as they become available.
