Greek Air Traffic Control Strikes Cause Chaos for Travelers

Greek Air Traffic Control Strikes

Hundreds of flights to and from Greece have been cancelled today as the country's aviation infrastructure battles with air traffic control strikes. The Board of the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association (EEEKE) last week announced that it has decided to participate in the 24-hour strike of the Civil Servants Federation (ADEDY) on Wednesday, April 9. As of 7.30am UK this morning, flight tracker FlightAware listed a huge 176 flights originating or destined for Athens as cancelled. A further 43 flights operating via Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city have been grounded, with 19 services to holiday hotspot Rhodes cancelled. 24 flights scheduled at Heraklion and Chania in Crete have been called off. In terms of airlines Greece's flag carrier Aegean appears to be bearing the brunt of the strikes with 82 flights cancelled, around 80 easyJet and Ryanair services have been axed - the majority of which were due to depart or arrive in Greece today. The UK is one of the largest inbound tourist markets for Greece with around 4 million arrivals each year. Ivaylo Danailov, CEO of airline compensation specialists SkyRefund said: 'The situation for anyone travelling to Greece on holiday looks bleak today with airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol all reporting cancellations to the country. Well over 200 services to and from the country have been grounded, it's a mass cancellation event.' 'In instances like today, holidaymakers are unfortunately not able to claim composition as national strikes are viewed as being out of the airline's hands, and they couldn't have prevented the cancellations. 'Passenger rights to care and assistance, though, remains the same. You are able to claim a refund for your cancelled flight if you do not want to travel and your airline is required to book you on a new service if you still want to make your trip.'