Hundreds of flights to, from and within Greece have been cancelled or delayed due to a failure of the air-traffic control system. The technical issue, affecting radio frequency systems of the Hellenic Aviation Service Provider, has been ongoing since early morning, causing a significant reduction in capacity within Greek airspace.
Aegean, Greece's leading airline, has cancelled dozens of flights, mainly to and from Athens. Some flights have been diverted to Rome, Dubrovnik, Budapest, Tirana, and Larnaca. A British passenger, John Berry, told The Independent he was waiting for a Jet2 flight from Manchester to collect him in Athens, which was running four hours late.
EasyJet cancelled a Manchester-Athens flight, citing an airport-related airspace closure as an extraordinary circumstance. British Airways cancelled a morning Heathrow-Athens departure, while Aegean grounded its evening Athens-Heathrow flight and the corresponding overnight inbound leg. Ryanair cancelled flights from Athens to Malta, Rome, and Bologna.
Under EU air passengers' rights rules, travellers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to be re-routed as soon as possible and provided with meals and hotels. Athens airport later reported a gradual release of some flights as efforts to fully restore the technical issues continued.
