Flights to and from Greek airports will be grounded on Thursday when air traffic controllers and civil aviation workers walk off the job to join a 24-hour nationwide strike over the country’s deadliest train crash on record.
On Feb. 28, a passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train killing 57 people and injured dozens. The general strike, called by the country’s largest private and public sector unions, is the latest in a series of protests against the conservative government and a political system which has repeatedly ignored calls by unions over safety measures.
All flights will be halted between 12:01 a.m. and midnight local time (1001 GMT - 2200 GMT) on March 16 and only overflights, emergency and search-and-rescue flights will take place, an official at the civil aviation authority told Reuters. Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air said they were forced to cancel all domestic and international flights on the day. Hundreds of flights are expected to be affected across the country’s approximately 40 airports. Ships will also remain docked at ports due to the strike.