Air traffic control

Restrictions allowing international flights to and from Athens only have been extended to June 30, according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority on Saturday.

Turkey on May 14 defended its decision to deny overflight clearance to a plane carrying medical aid to the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA).

Turkey refused a Greek Cyprus-bound aircraft that took off from China to fly across its airspace due to "standard restrictions," said the Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy on May 14.

A pair of Turkish fighter jets entered Athens' Flight Information Region (FIR) without submitting a flight plan on Wednesday and flew over the islet of Farmakonisi in the eastern Aegean.

The airspace violation was recorded at 1.58 p.m. at 25,000 feet.

They were chased off by Greek air force pilots in line with international rules of engagement. 

The Civil Aviation Authority announced on Wednesday that it would extend a ban on commercial flights to and from six countries until May 15 as part of the measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus in Greece.

According to the notice to airmen (NOTAMS) issued by the authority, the ban concerns Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.

However, on the evening of March 12, the Serbian national airline returned two canceled flights to Zurich on the flight schedule, the flights were JU 370 and JU 374. In all likelihood, those flights will operate and are scheduled for tomorrow, March 14.

Turkey welcomed 26.2 million air passengers in the first two months of 2020, the state airport authority announced on March 6. 

The figure was down by 2.2 percent from the same period last year, the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) said in a statement.

International passengers made up 44 percent of total passengers in the first two months of this year.

On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously adopted a bill on Romania's Airspace Code.

Bulgaria is among the four leading countries in Europe in the management of ship traffic, Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said at the opening of an international conference on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of ship traffic management and information services in Bulgaria .

Last week we reported that the Greek government is enacting emergency measures to end flight delays in the country. But Greece is not the only state battling with this issue. More and more European countries seem to believe that government intervention is required as a solution to frequent flight delays. Bulgaria now joins the list.