Greece Air Traffic Radio Failure

Flights across Greece were grounded on Sunday, January 4, 2026, after a collapse of radio frequencies crippled air traffic communications, stranding thousands of travelers. The disruption, which began around 07:00 GMT, was caused by a mysterious 'continuous, involuntary emission' or 'noise' that impacted most aviation radio channels, forcing a precautionary shutdown of Greek airspace. Panagiotis Psarros, chair of the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers, attributed the problem to a collapse of central radio frequency systems at the Athens and Macedonia area control centers and criticized the 'ancient' and 'obsolete' equipment. While some overflights continued, domestic and arriving flights were stalled for hours. Limited services were restored by Sunday afternoon using backup frequencies. Christos Dimas, Greece's infrastructure and transport minister, confirmed that flight safety was not compromised, but the incident was described as 'unprecedented and unacceptable' by the air traffic controllers' association.