- At a time when the country is being brought before the European Court for failing to implement projects, the CAA is paying €300,000 through a direct award by “ministerial order” for the preparation of progress reports for the European Commission.
- On December 11, the Commission referred Greece because it had not published the required PBN approach procedures for 44 runway ends by the December 2020 deadline.
- Greece is also accused of two other violations concerning Data Link Services (DLS) and individual aircraft identification (Mode S).
- They admit that the €300,000 budget did not arise from any study conducted by the Authority, but from the companies’ offers.
By Aris Chatzigeorgiou
The incompetence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) management is off the charts. Its failure to implement modern air traffic management systems has left Greece, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, without such systems. This was evident in the recent blackout in Greek airspace. The CAA allowed Greece to be brought before the European Court over failed projects, and now, to solve the problem it created, the CAA has proposed a direct award of €300,000 for the preparation of progress reports for the European Commission.
Since 2023, Data Journalists have been monitoring the CAA’s projects and daily operations, drawing attention to its failure to implement initiatives announced since 2021. These initiatives aim to update outdated equipment and staff the Authority with necessary personnel. On September 26, 2025, we reported on the purchase of radar systems with a €20 million “markup” after a cheaper tender was canceled.
Earlier, we highlighted the SOS for air transport safety
Earlier, we emphasized the need for air transport safety. As early as 2023, we reported on the attempt to remotely operate air traffic control at 14 airports based on studies prepared during the tenure of the unfortunate Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, K. Ach. Karamanlis.
At a time when abundant European funds are available for renewing air navigation systems and airports serve as the main gateway for millions of tourists to Greece, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and its supervising Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport have demonstrated nothing but failure and stalled projects in canceled or delayed tenders. The situation came to a head recently when the Athens FIR disappeared from the global aviation map for 12 hours on Sunday, January 4, 2026, due to a total communications system failure. Additionally, Greece was referred to the European Court for failing to implement a project concerning PBN procedures for aircraft navigation near Greek airports.
Αδιανόητο “ρουσφέτι” στη Fraport – Με τηλεχειρισμό ο έλεγχος 14 αεροδρομίων
On December 11, 2025, the European Commission decided to refer Greece, which was a hammer blow for our country. The accompanying official text stated explicitly: “Greece has not published the required PBN approach procedures for 44 runway ends, which were due by December 2020.”
The European Commission explains that PBN procedures and the implementation of the relevant regulation, which has been in effect since 2018, “provide benefits in terms of safety, capacity, the environment, and economic efficiency” and increase capacity “in Greek airspace and at Greek airports, which means fewer delays.” “Implementing the missing PBN approach procedures will provide pilots with vertical guidance, enhancing their situational awareness. These capabilities will improve the safety and accessibility of airports, particularly under low-visibility conditions,” the Commission concluded in its referral decision. This decision came after warning procedures were issued throughout 2024.
However, it seems that the Mitsotakis government ignored the warnings, perhaps because it believed its position was secure after appointing Apostolos Tzitzikostas as the Greek Commissioner responsible for Transport. Employees at the CAA—especially air traffic controllers—had warned about the gaps created by outdated systems, just as train drivers had warned about the Greek railway. The most tragic part of the story, though, was the reassurances given by CAA management in official announcements:
- Regarding Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) procedures, the April 16, 2025 statement stated that “the tender for the development of PBN procedures for 31 airports has been completed, and it is at the award stage.”
- On October 15, 2025, CAA Director Georgios Saunatsos appeared before a parliamentary committee and stated the following regarding PBN procedures at 31 airports: “A provisional award has been made following the completion of the tender, but pre-contractual procedures remain for the final award.”
- However, on January 5, 2026, just hours after the fiasco with the Athens FIR blackout, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Dimas issued a nonpaper on the action plan, admitting, “Regarding the international tender for the design and implementation of PBN procedures at 31 airports, Decision 2681/2025 of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal (12/31/2025) partially annulled a previous HSPPA decision and referred the case back to the CAA for reexamination of the award documentation.” In short, months passed with no progress on the tender, and the case was returned to the CAA, which had insisted that all was well.
Let’s be honest. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has no intention of holding the CAA management accountable for promising one thing and doing another. The cover-up is evident not only from the fact that their announcements are so vague that you need a magnifying glass to spot the problem.
This is also clear from the decision posted on the CAA’s Diavgeia platform on January 1, 2026, in which CAA Director G. Saunatsos signs off on a direct award of €300,000 due to an “extremely urgent” and “unforeseeable” need in order to advance PBN procedures for the safe navigation of airports “by ministerial order.” The decision’s contents are revealing about the project that was supposedly progressing smoothly until the European Commission referral. Specifically, it states that:
- The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is undergoing modernization and organizational transformation into a legal entity of public law and is implementing a highly complex and demanding action plan to address breaches of EU law and modernize air navigation services.
- However, the CAA suffers from “a lack of sufficient personnel to meet its modernization and transformation needs, both in terms of technical expertise and project management and reporting requirements to other stakeholders.”
- “The procurement of these services is deemed extremely urgent as the action plan is already at a critical stage of implementation. Its successful completion represents the Hellenic Republic’s commitment to the European Commission (DG MOVE) to address the infringements and avoid fines.”
- It should be noted that, in addition to the PBN procedures, Greece has been accused of two other violations concerning Data Link Services (DLS) and individual aircraft identification (Mode S).
- Now, for the controversial point—the reason why there is no tender and the contract is awarded directly to a major consulting firm. “Support for the CAA is unforeseeable because it is an atypical way of managing and resolving infringements that falls outside standard administrative practice.” What is this atypical method that the country’s top consultants cannot handle? “The urgent requirement to submit detailed progress reports to DG MOVE every six weeks creates complex and unpredictable project management and reporting demands.” In short, the CAA will pay €300,000, “by ministerial order,” for someone to write five to six progress reports, even though the contract lasts eight months.
- The decision openly states that the €300,000 budget did not come from a study conducted by the Authority, but rather “from offers requested from three companies that specialize in the field.”
Indeed, the law and case law allow for direct awards in cases of urgent need and unforeseeable circumstances. Of course, Law 4412/2016 refers to urgent needs that cannot be the responsibility of the entities invoking them. The Court of Audit has approved direct awards for “unforeseeable circumstances,” which it defines as “sudden factual events that were not known to the contracting authority, nor attributable to its sphere of responsibility, and which made it impossible for the authority to plan in time the necessary actions to address them.” It is apparent to the reader how truly unforeseeable these needs were when the CAA had assured for months that all procedures were progressing normally and suddenly discovered that the necessary personnel were lacking.
