On Sunday, January 4, 2026, flights throughout Greece were suspended due to a radio frequency breakdown that disrupted air traffic communication, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and stopping airport operations.
The source of the interruption, which started early on Sunday, January 4, and rapidly got worse, was not well understood. According to Greece’s civil aviation authority, airport operations were restricted for safety concerns, although some overflights across Greek and regional airspace were still being serviced.
Numerous flights experienced disruptions. “All frequencies were abruptly lost for an unknown reason. Panagiotis Psarros, chair of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, told state TV ERT, “We were unable to communicate with aircraft in the sky.”
According to him, the main air control facility in the nation, the Athens and Macedonia region control systems, appeared to be experiencing a central radio frequency system breakdown. It keeps an eye on the Athens Flight Information Region, a significant area of Greek-controlled airspace.
Greek airspace was mostly unoccupied, according to flight trackers. ERT reported from a packed departures terminal at Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos airport that airport arrivals and departures were suspended at 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).
The cause of this issue has not been disclosed to us, and our equipment is undoubtedly quite old. We’ve brought this up numerous times in the past,” Psarros stated.
A Transport Ministry official told Reuters some aircraft heading north and east were allowed to leave. More than 75 flights were delayed, the official said.
In Israel, an Airports Authority spokesperson said Greek airspace had been closed until 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT), advising travellers to expect delays in arrivals and departures.
