ATHENS, June 19 (BV) – Flight delays across Greece have surged at the start of the summer travel season as growing tourism demand combines with airspace disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East, placing additional pressure on the country’s air traffic control network.
According to the latest Eurocontrol data covering the first half of June, Greece is among the European countries most affected by air traffic flow management delays, alongside Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Cyprus.
The rerouting of flights away from parts of the Middle East has significantly increased traffic over Greek airspace, transforming the Athens Flight Information Region into a major transit corridor linking Europe with the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia.
Eurocontrol data show that Greece accounted for 14% of all en-route air traffic management delays across Europe during the reporting period. Of that figure, 9.5% originated in the Athens Area Control Centre, while 4.4% came from the Macedonia airspace sector.
Unlike France and Spain, where delays are primarily driven by staffing shortages and capacity limitations, Greece faces additional challenges linked to the sharp increase in overflight traffic caused by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The impact has been significant. Average delays in Greek-controlled airspace increased by 82% compared with the same period last year, while Eurocontrol noted that the Athens Area Control Centre is struggling to fully meet performance targets due to elevated traffic volumes.
Across Europe, air traffic rose by 1.2% year-on-year to an average of 34,983 flights per day. Despite increased demand, overall network performance improved, with average delays falling by 29% to 2.3 minutes per flight and on-time arrivals reaching 76%.
France remained Europe’s largest congestion hotspot, accounting for 28% of total delays, followed by Spain with 23.2%, mainly due to capacity constraints, staffing issues and upgrades to air traffic control systems.
The latest figures underline the growing impact of regional conflicts on European aviation networks as airlines continue to adapt routes to avoid security risks in parts of the Middle East.