Greece’s government on Monday said a major radio communications failure that temporarily shut down the country’s airspace a day earlier was unlikely to be the result of a cyberattack, although the exact cause is still being investigated.
Air traffic across Greece was halted, diverted or delayed for several hours on Sunday after interference was detected on multiple air traffic control communication channels, including backup systems.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said authorities have found no evidence pointing to a cyber incident. “There is not the slightest indication that we are dealing with a cyberattack,” he said, stressing that this assessment needed to be made clear.
The Greek Civil Aviation Authority said the widespread noise across communication channels prompted a precautionary shutdown of operations. Air traffic services were gradually restored after several hours.
The outage forced incoming flights to divert to neighboring countries, triggering widespread delays and leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports.
Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based European air navigation safety body, assisted in rerouting aircraft during and after the disruption. It said around 120 flights were grounded on Sunday at Greece’s two busiest airports in Athens and Thessaloniki, adding that knock-on effects continued into early Monday.
Greece’s Air Traffic Controllers’ Association said the incident highlighted long-standing concerns over outdated infrastructure, renewing calls for urgent modernization of air traffic control equipment.
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Authorities on Monday launched both a judicial inquiry and an internal investigation to determine the cause of the failure. Separately, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas announced the creation of a special investigative committee comprising representatives from civil aviation authorities, the Greek air force, Eurocontrol and a state-run cyberdefence agency.
Describing the incident as “very serious,” Dimas said passenger safety was never compromised.