Flight delays in Greece’s airports trouble passengers and airlines again in summer 2026, in the peak of the tourists season. The Eurocontrol shows a 63% increase in compare to last year, while the Hellenic Air Transport Authority says the average wait 2.26 minutes.
Extraordinary meeting of parties involved on Monday afternoon to deal with the problem.
Greece is reportedly “responsible” for 13% of total delays in the European air transport network.
the aviation market is in uproar by the sharp increase in flight delays by 63% compared to last year in the midst of the peak of the tourist season.
According to the European Air Safety Organization Eurocontrol, the causes of flight delays that have led Greece, to the nadir of the European ranking (3rd place) in terms of schedule consistency are being sought in a meeting held on Monday afternoon, July 6, 2026, in order to normalize the situation and allow the tourist season to run smoothly.
All bodies involved are participating in the meeting: HCAA (Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority), ACAA (Civil Aviation Authority), AIA (Athens International Airport), AEGEAN and SKY express.
Waiting times have increased at Greece’s airports and delays are long on some flights, according to airline data and traveler reports, although according to HCAA data the average delay is only 2.26 minutes.
Several flights have delays of up to 6 hours, with an indicative example – after passenger complaints to news website newsit.gr that yesterday Sunday, July 5, a flight from Athens and international airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” to Italy and specifically to Milan with a low-cost airline having a delay of 5 hours.
Where is the problem attributed
Airline sources attribute the problem with flight delays, which has escalated sharply in the last 2-3 weeks, to air traffic management.
As a result, the domino effect that is when a flight continues to other destinations causes irritation among travelers as hours of waiting accumulate from one destination to another. Thus, even flights that would seemingly not be delayed are “dragged along”.
Amid an increase in passenger traffic at airports and especially at AIA “El. Venizelos”, delays have a negative impact on the planning of travelers and airlines.
It is noted that flight scheduling is based on the capacity set by the Civil Aviation Authority, with companies claiming that they comply with the instructions and do not exceed the limits. In practice, they attribute the problem to air traffic management and not so much to seasonal demand and geopolitical developments that have changed flight flows in the wider region.
However, neighboring countries such as Turkey that also receive high tourist flows at this time of year do not face such a range of delays.
According to the CAA, flight delays at Athens International Airport were reduced by 31.77% in June, while the average delay per flight in the Athens FIR is estimated at 2.26 minutes.
The Greek Civil Aviation insists that “these delays are real and amplified, as recorded in other European providers, especially due to seasonal demand and geopolitical developments, which have changed flight flows in the wider region.”
What Eurocontrol’s data show
Beyond 63% of delays compared to the same period in 2025, the report by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) points out that Greek airports are responsible for 13% of total flight delays in the entire European air transport network, as a result of which tourism is affected.
In the relevant report made for Greece in the Eurocontrol report for the last week of June, it is stated that 9% of the total 13% of delays come from the “El. Venizelos” in Athens and the remaining 4% from the “Macedonia” airport in Thessaloniki, while it is noted that the turbulence in the Middle East plays a role in the delays in Greek airspace. T
he average flight delay in Greece exceeds 2 minutes as reported by Eurocontrol, an element that is consistent with the data of the Hellenic Aviation Authority.
At the European level, Greece, together with France and Spain, are the countries with the longest delays in June. France records the highest percentage of delays.
It should be recalled that flight delays at the Athens International Airport were high last summer and Air Traffic Controllers complained about the outdated systems of the Civil Aviation Authority.
