An emergency meeting was called on Monday to address the issue of flight delays during the peak summer season. The meeting was held at the Civil Aviation Authority, with the participation of the Civil Aviation Service, Athens International Airport, airlines and air traffic controllers, who exchanged assessments on the causes of the delays and ideas for improving the situation.
Despite chronic weaknesses attributed to air navigation systems and staff shortages, delays have exceeded normal summer season levels over the past three weeks, and companies are demanding explanations, arguing that the distribution of the number of flights provided for by a Joint Ministerial Decision on the issue is not being applied as it should.
Under that decision, Athens airport should be managing 35 departures and 31 arrivals per hour during peak hours, 35 and 28, respectively, during the rest of the day, and 22 arrivals and departures at night. The above numbers are based on the capacity of the existing systems and the parameters of safety standards.
AIA sources say that the main issue is not the total number of authorized flights, but the way in which the daily schedule is implemented by the air traffic management system.
