Die Sperrung des griechischen Luftraums bringt stark veraltete Systeme zum Vorschein

>###A deeply embarrassing systems failure which forced Greece to close its airspace for several hours with pilots unable to speak to air traffic control, has exposed badly outdated communication systems at Athens International Airport — one of the world’s top travel destinations.

>Flights had to be diverted to neighbouring countries with thousands of travellers hit after the „unprecedented“ technical malfunction on January 4, which baffled experts.

>Even more than a week after the chaos, questions as to what sparked the glitch — and how the system returned online — remain unanswered, with a report expected this week.

>According to the Greek civil aviation authority, the YPA, the malfunction began at 8:59 am (0659 GMT) when multiple radio frequencies serving Athens airspace were hit by continuous „noise“ interference.

>Air traffic controllers could see the aircraft on the radar display, but they could neither hear the pilots nor speak to them. If two aircraft had been on a collision course, controllers would not have been able to give them instructions.

>Greece’s junior transport minister has admitted the airport’s communications systems should have been upgraded „decades“ earlier. The Athens airport tower radar dates from 1999, air traffic controllers note.

>Last month the European Commission referred Greece to the EU Court of Justice for failing to put in place measures to design and publish performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures at Greek airports that should have been in place five years ago.

>Critics have also noted that Greece’s worst rail disaster, when two trains collided in 2023, killing 57 people — which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets to protest — was also partly caused by chronic infrastructure and staffing failings.