Civil aviation agency split in two

Two years after legislation designed to restructure Greece's civil aviation system was approved in Parliament, presidential decrees have been issued splitting the Civil Aviation Authority (YPA) into two separate bodies - an independent agency (APA) that will oversee all of the country's 44 airports, both private and state-run, and a civil aviation service that will only manage the state-owned ones.

On top of operating as an economic regulator, APA will supervise air traffic management, aeronautical information services and meteorological services. It will also oversee communications, navigation, surveillance and interoperability services, as well as administer areas of security and safety.

According to the presidential decrees that were published in the Government Gazette on Monday, APA will employ 2,512 people, while another 487 will staff the new civil aviation...