Air traffic is at record levels, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. Specifically, on Saturday 10 August 2024 the Air Traffic Control of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) served 4,944 flights in the Athens F.I.R (arrivals, departures and transits/overflights of aircraft), a number that is a new all-time record.
Indicatively, it is noted that the EUROCONTROL Higher Area Control Center in Maastricht, which controls one of the busiest airspaces in central Europe and four F.I.R.s (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and part of Germany), records in 2024 an average daily traffic of of approximately 4,800 flights. At the Heraklion “Nikos Kazantzakis” Airport, the records of the rise in passenger service are continuous, as on Sunday, July 21, 2024, the state airport of Crete recorded an all-time record by handling 62,778 passengers within a 24-hour period.
As characteristically noted the chief of the CAA, Giorgos Sounatsos, “protagonists in supporting the rise recorded by the aviation indicators are the service’s lively potential. Regarding the availability of air navigation systems, throughout the summer season, it is significantly improved compared to the previous year. At the same time, the ambitious program of modernisation of the air navigation systems is underway, and the strengthening of human resources with an emphasis on the specialties of Air Traffic Controllers and Electronics/ATSEP, in order to cope with the operational and technological challenges of the coming years”.