The publish Radio Glitch Grounds Greece: Outdated Aviation Systems Under Scrutiny appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily Media.
On Sunday, 4th January, travellers at airports all through Greece discovered themselves stranded by what has finally been decided as a glitch affecting the nation’s outdated aviation communication techniques.
Per a report revealed by Reuters on Monday, fifth January, air site visitors controllers at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelosere (AIA) had been guiding planes towards the runway when radio communications failed, bewilderingly changed by a high-pitched whistling noise.
Two controllers and a member of airport administration at AIA who had been on responsibility throughout the incidence mentioned that controllers virtually instantly misplaced contact with the majority of plane inside the nation’s airspace on the time, together with a number of dozen plane on the verge of touchdown.
While the difficulty continues to be below investigation as of press time, the Greek Civil Aviation Authority is critically trying on the outdated gear nonetheless in use in airports all through the nation.
Unprecedented, however…
As specialists interviewed by In-Cyprus identified, the unusual whistling noise heard when communications went useless usually have an effect on only one transmission centre at a time.
Otherwise, these happen as remoted incidents which have been efficiently addressed prior to now.
While Greek authorities say that this present state of affairs is unprecedented, it might be recalled {that a} comparable incident affected airport operations on a worldwide reduce in July 2024.
In that case, nonetheless, it was decided that the breakdown was attributable to a bug in the latest replace for cybersecurity answer CrowdStrike, a system utilized by virtually each airport on this planet.
For the Greek state of affairs, nonetheless, it’s changing into clearer that this will likely not essentially be a software program challenge and investigators have critical doubts that the nation’s airports had been hit by a web based assault.
Indeed, the difficulty might have been as a result of one thing that has wanted to be addressed for some time now: communications techniques at these airports have lengthy wanted upgrades if not outright substitute.
At current, Greek airports use circuits from nationwide telecommunications supplier OTE, which has assured the general public as of fifth January that the mentioned circuits are absolutely operational.
Despite this, some specialists have identified that a lot of Greece’s airport communications infrastructure wants critical refurbishment or full substitute with trendy, extra dependable gear.
It ought to be famous that the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Union launched a press release declaring: “Today’s situation did not arise suddenly; it was pre-announced.”
The union has likewise demanded that airport officers conduct a direct overhaul of facility techniques all through the nation.
So, what occurs now?
As of Monday, the Greek authorities has emphatically declared airport modernisation is at present ongoing and that the set up of recent communications gear nationwide shall be executed a while in 2028.
Officials additionally claimed that these new techniques shall be compliant with the related requirements set by the European Union for airport communications.
Ironically, as of December 2025, the European Commission truly known as out the Greek authorities for failing to implement sure navigation procedures designed to spice up security in low-visibility circumstances.
For many airport staff all through Greece, nonetheless, any form of upgrades will come too little, too late.
As Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers Pangiotis Psarros put it: “This incident as soon as once more exposes the crucial weaknesses of outdated and underfunded air site visitors administration infrastructure. Safety was maintained because of human experience, however this can not proceed to compensate for systemic deficiencies.”
The publish Radio Glitch Grounds Greece: Outdated Aviation Systems Under Scrutiny appeared first on Travel Daily Media.
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