The situation in Greece at the moment is becomingly increasingly unstable. It seems a General Strike is planned for Wednesday 10th 2010. The country's Public servants union has called on all of its members to put down their tools and pick up their Banners. This will inevitably cause more chaos throughout the country. Passengers flying into or out of Athens will be hardest hit by this round of walkouts. The two main flight operators in Greece; Aegean air and Olympic Air have canceled all flights that day. Elefterios Venizelos international airport will be closed from 00.00 – 23.59. Passengers who have not been contacted by their airlines yet should do so immediately. The planned strike has forced carriers to reschedule their flights to arrive/depart earlier. The next labour group to go along with the general strike will be the Teacher's union who have set March 8th as another possible strike date. The Civil Servants unions (ΑΔΕΔΥ), the trade union (ΠAME), Medical professionals from state run hospitals and Panhellenic Federation of University & Scientific Academics (ΠΟΣΔΕΠ) also plan to take to the streets. The Greek workers it seems are extremely unhappy about Prime Minister Papandreou's new measures to flight the country's financial woes. They (the workers) are venting their growing frustration at the current government's inability to tame Greece's current account deficit.
Some important information for all travllers:
Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines has its hub in Athens and must therefore cancel all flights on February 10. It also announced the following changes to flights on February 9 to ensure passengers exit the airport before midnight:
• A3 137 Thessaloniki-Athens, departing at 22:45 instead of 23:20
• A3 136 Athens-Thessaloniki, departing at 22:45 instead of 23.30
• A3 606/607 Athens-London-Athens, departing from Athens at 14:45 instead of 17:20 and departing London at 19:45 instead of 22:20 (local time).
Contact info:
Tel: From within Greece 801 11 20000
Tel: From abroad or mobile + 30 (210) 626-1000
Web site: www.aegeanairlines.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/aegeanairlines
Olympic Air
Olympic Air said it would make an official announcement on Tuesday. However, Greek media is reporting that all Olympic Air flights on February 10 are canceled, and Athina 9.84 listed changes to these February 9 flights:
• OA 147 Athens- Brussels will depart at 16:00, not 16:30; and Brussels-Athens will depart at 19:10 instead of 19:45.
• OA 266 London-Athens, scheduled to depart at 22:15, is canceled.
Contact info:
Tel: +30 (210) 356-8447 (at Athens International Airport)
Fax: +30 (210) 966-6244
Tel: 801 11 44444 (Sales/reservations, toll-free within Greece)
Tel: +30 (210) 966-6666 (Sales/reservations)
E-mail: olympicairlines.telephone.sales@olympicairlines.gr
Web site: www.olympicair.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/olympic_air_gr
Athens International Airport
Call Center: +30 (210) 353-0000 (Available 24 hours)
Fax: +30 (210) 353-0001
Web site: www.aia.gr
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AthensAirport
Sources
Αλλαγές σε αεροπορικά δρομολόγια λόγω της απεργίας στις 10/02 – Eleftherotypia
Press Announcement 8/2/2010 — Athens International Airport”
Press Release 8 February 2010 — Aegean Airlines
Ματαιώνονται όλες οι πτήσεις την — Athina 9.84
09.02.2010
