In the first hours after the incident began, international flights that were already descending landed as scheduled. However, after noon, the state broadcaster ERT reported that all aircraft heading to Greek airports had been instructed to redirect to other countries, with most of them heading to Turkey.
According to data from FlightRadar, Greek airspace was almost empty, while Turkish airports were experiencing heavy traffic.
The situation with departures also remains complicated: starting from 09:30, only two out of about 50 scheduled flights from Athens airport took off in two hours. Passengers are accumulating in the terminals, especially during the Christmas holidays when the flow of people traditionally increases.
The failure in communication systems has halted air traffic in Greece.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the existence of problems with landings and takeoffs at all airports in the country. Specialists from the agency, along with technical services, are working to determine the cause of the failure and resolve it. According to sources, the radio frequency bandwidth has sharply decreased, making communication between aircraft and control towers nearly impossible.
