Galery

2

1

Air traffic controllers’ strikes, Athens airport Eleftherios Venizelos
"We will not be back in Greece," said a couple of foreigners who had travelled from Athens to London with almost nine hours' delay, reported GRReporter source. They were supposed to depart at 13 h last Sunday, but their flight was delayed to 21.30 h. The reason for the nine-hour delay was neither storm, tsunami, or terrorist act, but the unannounced protest of air traffic controllers at Eleftherios Venizelos airport. Although there was no officially announced strike, air traffic controllers served one flight every eight to fifteen minutes instead of one flight every minute, as scheduled. This happens every Thursday and Sunday and as a result, on those days of the week, arrivals and departures from the central Greek airport face severe difficulties.
 
Among the victims of flight delays was a woman from Cyprus, who was travelling with her sick husband. Medical staff were waited for him there to carry out emergency surgery but the only people the family in need reached, and without result, were the airline's ground crew, which unfortunately have no influence on the decisions of air traffic controllers. Another sufferer among the hundreds of passengers hanging around the airport on Sunday was a Kenyan priest who was travelling to London. From there he had to board a plane to Nairobi to arrive on Monday morning for a young couple's wedding. With these delays at the Greek airport, there will be a wedding but without a priest, the father said bitterly to our source. The afternoon Aegean flight Athens-London on Sunday was delayed almost five hours.

None of the passengers got to their destinations on time, and it seems that Greek air traffic controllers will not stop their protests any time soon. They argue that it is necessary to reduce airspace capacity in order to maintain the existing level of security. They insist on being excluded from the lists of state employees, because the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation covers their salaries and the Greek government improperly uses the revenue from airport fees.