A Greek air traffic control shortage hit Athens International Airport after a malfunction in one of the Civil Aviation Authority’s approach radars in the Merenda area disrupted air traffic operations. Flights were delayed by up to two hours as the radar image used to monitor aircraft movements became unreliable.
Technical teams were immediately mobilized to restore the system, and safety measures were put in place to keep air traffic under secure management. Authorities temporarily reduced the rate of arriving flights at Athens International Airport while the problem was being handled.
Athens International Airport delays
The restriction affected both arrivals and departures, adding pressure to a system already operating with reduced capacity. Passengers traveling to and from Athens faced the delays as the airport worked through the disruption.
The source says the airport action was taken as a precaution while the technical issue was being addressed. That meant fewer arriving flights were allowed through at once, but the slowdown still spread beyond arrivals and into departures.
Civil Aviation Authority radar
The malfunction involved an approach radar in the Merenda area, which is used to help monitor aircraft movements. When that image was affected, the airport could not rely on normal monitoring in the same way, so the response centered on restoring the system and protecting safe operations.
The radar system’s operation was later restored. The immediate effect for travelers was not the malfunction itself but the delay it created across the airport flow, with some flights held for up to two hours before operations returned to normal.
Merenda area disruption
For passengers in Athens, the practical effect was a slower departure and arrival pattern at a major airport until the radar issue cleared. The report does not add a later schedule for further disruptions, so the key point for affected travelers is that the system was restored after the temporary reduction in arrivals.
