Athens: Greece's Athens International Airport has been experiencing significant flight delays since Thursday. This disruption is due to air traffic controllers reducing the number of flights they handle per hour, as reported by the daily Kathimerini on Saturday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the cutback in flight handling is connected to a dispute over bonuses and organizational changes among air traffic controllers. The limitation has led to a decrease in the number of aircraft managed per hour, resulting in delays. On Thursday, air traffic controllers restricted traffic to 23 arrivals per hour, a notable reduction from the previous 31 arrivals and 33 departures, which was down from 36.

By Friday, the number of arrivals slightly increased to 28 per hour, compared with the 36 arrivals typically managed during the summer season. Aegean Airlines commented on Friday that the reduced arrival capacity by air traffic control at Athens has led to a roughly 25% cut, causing morning delays of 30 to 40 minutes, which worsened as the day progressed.

The current delays at Athens International Airport come in the wake of Ryanair's August announcement that air traffic control equipment failures had previously caused delays to and from Greece. This disruption affected 12 Ryanair flights and impacted more than 2,000 passengers. Ryanair further highlighted that in 2025, over 5,000 of its flights and more than 900,000 passengers have been unfairly delayed due to Greek ATC mismanagement and staff shortages, ranking Greece as the 5th worst-performing ATC service for delays in Europe.

Adding to the airport's ongoing challenges, July saw a deterioration in flight punctuality, with only 48% of flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, a decline from 59% in the same month the previous year.