Delays at Athens International Airport expected due to failure of surveillance system

New problems have been identified in the surveillance system of the international airport of Athens “Eleftherios Venizelos” on Thursday, following yet another malfunction recorded in the radar of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The incident occurs only a few weeks after the unprecedented blackout in the Athens FIR in January.

The issue concerns the radar installed on Merenta Hill, in eastern Attica, near Markopoulo Mesogaias. The area is home to important infrastructures related to the operation of the largest airport in Greece.

Two out of three radars are out of order.

The Air Traffic Controllers Association (GATCA) warns that they cannot continue to function as the sole “safety filter” of a system that exhibits constant technical failures.

In a statement the Air Traffic Controllers said, among others, that they will be forced to reduce capacity as they did in August 2025.

ATC announcement as posted by several Greek media such as cnngreece, ethnos etc

“We found ourselves spectators of the same project this morning, after communication with Merenta Hill was lost again, as last August, when the spare part, which the Hellenic Air Transport Authority had been “evaluating” since May 2024 whether it should acquire and to date has not been delivered, failed.

The Athens Approach, which serves the country’s largest airport, was once again left with only one radar, out of the three that should normally operate and without backup frequencies, since the data transfer to and from Merenta Hill was interrupted.

On 4/1/2026 we faced the unacceptable incident of total loss of communications of the K.E.P.A.H.M., for which we have not yet been informed about the causes that caused it, while the Administration has not proceeded to prepare a safety assessment study, has not even issued operational instructions for traffic management, given that the failure can be repeated at any time, while the capacities of the sectors remain at 100%, as if nothing had happened.

Today’s failure in the data link with Merenta Hill is not happening for the first time and it exposes the Administration of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the competent Directors even more, since this is a repetition of the same problem that occurred months ago and for which the C.A. management  assured that it would not be repeated

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Unfortunately, despite the removal of the previous Director, his colleagues, who equally bear a share of responsibility for the situation in which the Ministry of Public Works is today, remain, for inexplicable reasons, unscathed. It is therefore no wonder why nothing changes.

It seems that no one in charge has been moved by the humiliation of C.A.A.  which was forced to resort to seeking a donation to acquire the voice communications system for the K.E.P.A.H.M., not because the service does not have resources, but because the choices of the Administration to pursue for years the revival of a contract, which everyone knew was impossible, led to the loss of valuable time.

Otherwise, the CAA is seeking to conclude a contract for the new radar system (D.P.S.), the budget of which has now reached 160 million euros (from 76 million euros in 2024 and from 150 million a few weeks ago), without the competent authority having presented technical specifications, which is a global first, since it is sought to spend a huge amount, without specifying exactly which system will be delivered.

At the same time, the contract for the relocation of the Athens approach, after a 13-month delay in its signing, due to the Administration’s indifference to the timely renewal of funding, has already been delayed by 3 months in its execution, because the competent management has not appointed a committee to determine the detailed functional specifications (DFS), in a situation that is identical to that which led to the termination of the contract for the voice communications system of the K.E.P.A.H.M., without the system being delivered.

It is now obvious that the pattern that the Ministry of Public Works followed for decades and which led to the lack of systems critical to safety, is being followed unchanged today, at a time when such extensive incidents of damage have occurred and when the entire country is aware of the magnitude of the problem. Those responsible for the acquisition of the systems seem to continue unmoved. The question that must be answered, of course, is why they continue to act in the same way and why they remain in their position. The Minister and the Justice Department must now be taken into account.

The only thing certain is that the situation has long since passed the limits of what is tolerable. As long as this situation continues and as long as no substantial measures are taken to renew the equipment and upgrade the reliability of the existing one, the Air Traffic Controllers, respecting our duty towards flight safety, will take all necessary measures, including reducing the capacity, to protect the safety of the passengers.

Once again, the only safety valve that worked was the Air Traffic Controllers, who faced the umpteenth equipment malfunction and were able to guide the aircraft to land safely. However, this cannot continue.

Under the current circumstances, we declare, once again, that there will be no overtime work in the coming summer season, since we owe it to the passenger public and the country not to become an alibi for the leadership of the Hellenic Air Traffic Control Service. and the relevant directors to continue to operate in the same way, which led the CAA to the current tragic situation.

We are determined to take any action to end the current mentality that exists in the H.A. and led it to decline, so that the country can acquire an air navigation service provider worthy of the European ones.”