Greece closes its airspace over mysterious noise frequency disrupts radio transmissions
Source: World – Metro
Flights were suspended across Greece after a mystery noise affected radio frequencies.
Airports grounded their planes after the technical problem at the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR), local Kathimerini newspaper reports.
Flight trackers showed Greek airspace largely empty after arrivals and departures were halted.
Greek airspace was reportedly first shut down from 9am local time (7am in the UK).
Around 45 flights were leaving Greek airports every hour by late afternoon, an official said.
The problem appears to be linked to radio frequency systems at Athens and Macedonia Area Control Centres.
Radio frequencies have gone out of operation at a centre which all aircraft entering Greek airspace have to communicate with, Kathimerini reports.
Athens’s Eleftherios Venizelos airport has become crowded with travellers unable to board.
Greece’s civil aviation authority said an indeterminate ‘noise’ impacted radio channels, but the cause was not clear.
‘The ‘noise’ observed in the frequencies was in the form of continuous, involuntary emission,’ it said in a statement.
Flights have been diverted to neighbouring countries, according to state broadcaster ERT.
The Israel Airports Authority has warned holidaymakers that the shutdown of its airspace is expected to last until at least 4pm local time.
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