Probably not a cyber attack
Entire airspace over Greece closed
A look at flight tracking services just a few hours ago showed the unusually quiet skies over Greece. Flight operations had come to a complete standstill on Sunday morning. Now the first flights have been able to take off again.
Following a serious technical breakdown and the complete standstill of air traffic in Greece, the first planes took off and landed again on Sunday lunchtime. "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 full normality.
Cyber attack and sabotage ruled out
The president of the air traffic controllers' association ruled out a cyberattack. Instead, he criticized the state of the communication systems: "Our systems are ancient," he told ERTNews. The air traffic controllers' union had already pointed this out several times. At times, the air traffic controllers were unable to communicate with each other or with the pilots.
The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) confirmed a problem with the central radio and communication systems. The technical problem is still being investigated, it said. According to initial findings, there was a defect in a radio mast about 60 kilometers west of Athens. Sabotage has been ruled out.
Impact on surrounding countries
There was chaos at Greek airports, especially the major airports in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion on Crete. Athens in particular receives many foreign visitors, even in winter, and Greeks also used the holidays to visit relatives and friends. Loudspeaker announcements called on passengers to be patient. Tourists on Rhodes were sent back to their hotels and are due to fly on Monday.
The breakdown had repercussions far beyond Greece. Flightradar24, an online service for real-time flight tracking, showed an almost empty Greek airspace, while over the surrounding countries, such as Bulgaria and Albania, planes were massing because they had to be diverted.
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