Sick air traffic controller draws attention to shortages at smaller airports
The airport at the southeastern Aegean island of Kastelorizo, where Olympic Air operates, remained out of service last weekend because the sole employee working the control tower and providing Airport Flight Information Services (AFIS) was ill.
Indicatively, in 11 of the 15 border airports that offer flight information services, only one person is on duty serving passengers, medical and military planes 24 hours a day, without days off and leave, according to the Panhellenic Association of Telecommunication Workers of the Civil Aviation Service.
In addition, seven of the 11 airports have no permanent staff. In the recent past, similar cases of sudden closures have been recorded at the airports of Ikaria, Milos (three times), Kozani, Naxos and Kastoria.
