Flights Resume in Greece After Radio Signal Loss Halts Airport Operations

Radio Signal Loss Disrupts Flights in Greece

Both incoming and outgoing flights were temporarily suspended at airports across Greece after a technical issue affected radio frequencies in the airspace, leaving authorities baffled. Thousands of travelers were stranded at airports for several hours on Sunday as air traffic ground to a halt, and communications were interrupted.

Authorities reported that the disruptions began just before 9:00 AM local time, when most aviation radio frequencies were impacted by massive interference, prompting a preventative closure of Greece's airspace. The Greek Civil Aviation Authority stated that an indeterminable "noise" impacted the radio channels, and the cause has yet to be clarified. The noise observed took the form of a continuous and involuntary broadcast.

Panagiotis Psarros, President of the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association, noted that all frequencies were lost abruptly, making communication with airborne aircraft impossible. He also blamed outdated systems, asserting that the obsolete infrastructure should have been replaced many years ago. Authorities managed to handle flights for a few hours before restoring limited services on Sunday afternoon through backup frequencies.

Air traffic has been gradually resumed, and according to official statements, it is now fully restored. Christos Dimas, Greece's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, assured that the incident did not compromise flight safety. Approximately 45 flights were departing from Greek airports every hour by the end of Sunday afternoon.

The press office of the country’s civil aviation authority reported that 31.6 million passengers transited through Athens airport in the first 11 months of 2025. The Air Traffic Controllers Association emphasized that the disruption affected all ground frequencies and some frequencies used by the air traffic control unit in Athens, responsible for managing aircraft flying to and from Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. This association described the scale of Sunday’s incident as "unprecedented and unacceptable."