Julian Moxon/Paris
EUROPEAN PILOTS' associations have raised major concerns over continuing "very serious" air-traffic-control (ATC) problems in Greece.
The German and Scandinavian Airline Pilots Associations have called the situation "disastrous", citing a survey of pilots which found that they were frequently unable to understand the instructions issued by Greek controllers. Eurocontrol has also expressed concern over "major difficulties".
Departure delays from Athens Airport at the peak holiday period in July stood at 57min and, even with reduced traffic since then, are still as high as 52min. Non-scheduled and charter operations have been delayed by as much as 3.5h. The lack of modern equipment also means that crews wanting to over-fly Greece are subjected to procedural separations, because radar coverage remains virtually non-existent.
The problem centres on the inability of the Greek Government to settle a long-running salary and conditions dispute with its air-traffic controllers. The controllers want salaries matching those paid in other European countries.
Athens Airport is equipped with a single 30-year old approach radar, a new Thomson-CSF system remaining unused because of a dispute between the manufacturer and the Greek civil-aviation authority. Greece has just one radar, for area coverage but there is no backup radar, so it is used only for monitoring aircraft. Only two of the seven ATC initiatives, which were supposed to bring Greece up to international standards, have been implemented.
The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers is trying to convince Greece that action must be taken. Despite its reply to the pilots' associations that "...everything is perfect", the Government is understood to be negotiating a new accord with the controllers under which they would be employed independently from other state employees.
Source: Flight International
