A radio-communication failure that shut down large parts of Greek airspace for several hours on Sunday had limited knock-on effects for UAE travellers. Emirates confirmed that flights to and from Athens were “minimally impacted”, while Etihad and Air Arabia reported isolated delays but no cancellations.
The outage, which began in the early hours of 4 January, forced rerouting of European traffic and raised fears of a cascading disruption similar to last year’s UK ATC meltdown. Thanks to off-peak timings and rapid contingency plans, UAE carriers avoided the worst of the bottleneck, and schedules were back on track by Monday afternoon.
![Greek air-traffic glitch causes only minor delays for UAE carriers]()
Corporate travel managers nonetheless received reminders to monitor NOTAMs when routing executives through single-corridor airspaces. The incident also spotlights the growing importance of diversified hubs: several travel-management companies said they are shifting winter incentive groups from Athens to Istanbul and Doha as a hedge against future glitches.
Insurers note that while EU261 compensation rules do not apply to Gulf airlines on non-EU sectors, companies may still face hotel and per-diem costs when delays exceed four hours. Mobility policies should clarify reimbursement thresholds.
The outage, which began in the early hours of 4 January, forced rerouting of European traffic and raised fears of a cascading disruption similar to last year’s UK ATC meltdown. Thanks to off-peak timings and rapid contingency plans, UAE carriers avoided the worst of the bottleneck, and schedules were back on track by Monday afternoon.
Corporate travel managers nonetheless received reminders to monitor NOTAMs when routing executives through single-corridor airspaces. The incident also spotlights the growing importance of diversified hubs: several travel-management companies said they are shifting winter incentive groups from Athens to Istanbul and Doha as a hedge against future glitches.
Insurers note that while EU261 compensation rules do not apply to Gulf airlines on non-EU sectors, companies may still face hotel and per-diem costs when delays exceed four hours. Mobility policies should clarify reimbursement thresholds.
Source: Gulf News
