Greece’s Air Traffic Controllers to Strike Feb. 28, Impacting All Flights

Travel advisors with clients flying into or out of Greece on Friday, Feb. 28 may want to look at switching those flights. Air traffic controllers in the country will be joining a nationwide strike that day, possibly grounding all flights in and out of the country.

The 24-hour stoppage will affect all commercial flights according to The Associated Press. Only flights overflying Greece, flights transporting heads of state and Prime Ministers, medical evacuations, search and rescue operations, and other similar essential flights will be handled.

According to ifly.com, on average Athens’ Venizelos Airport handles more than 400 daily arriving flights.

The nationwide strike is in honor of 57 people killed during a rail crash in Northern Greece two years ago. Though the crash revealed systemic problems in Greece’s railway system, the handling of the investigation has been widely criticized, and the upcoming strike is meant to demand justice for the victims.