Flight warning as Greek air traffic controllers to join general strike

The walkout is part of a general strike demanding justice for the 57 victims of the Tempe train crash

Passengers wait in a queue, to enter a flight to Israel, at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Greek air traffic controllers will join a nationwide strike on 28 February, grounding almost all commercial flights in and out of the country.

The walkout is part of a general strike demanding justice for the 57 victims of the Tempe train crash, which happened two years ago.

The air traffic controllers’ union confirmed their participation in the 24-hour work stoppage. During the strike, they will only handle essential flights, such as medical evacuations, search and rescue operations, humanitarian aid deliveries, military aircraft, and other emergencies. This means commercial passenger flights will be heavily disrupted, if not entirely cancelled, for the duration of the strike.

In the past, courts have often declared the participation of air traffic controllers in general strikes as illegal.

The latest strike has been timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the rail disaster in which 57 people were killed at Tempe, northern Greece, in a head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train. The crash on Feb. 28, 2023, exposed shortcomings in safety equipment in Greece’s railway system and led to the resignation of the transport minister.

The Tempe train crash (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

But the official handling of the disaster has been criticized, with public anger over delays in the inquiry and allegations of a cover-up that the government strongly denies. Some have alleged the freight train had been carrying dangerous chemicals that ignited, producing an intense fire that killed many of the victims.

Mass protests were held last month following a call by the relatives of victims, many of whom had been university students returning to classes after a public holiday.

Widespread strikes halted trains and ferries in protests timed to coincide with the anniversary of a deadly rail crash a year ago.

Public transport services in Athens were disrupted by the strike as unions pressed demands to further dismantle wage controls imposed during the 2010-2018 financial crisis.

Farmers and university students have also staged anti-government protests in recent weeks.

Flights were unaffected by the strikes after a court declared that protest plans by air traffic controllers were illegal.