Copenhagen: Finland’s national carrier Finnair says it is temporarily suspending flights to Estonia’s second-largest city for a month after two of its planes were prevented from landing in Tartu because of GPS disruptions.
The cause of the GPS interference that forced the two flights to return to Helsinki last Thursday and Friday was not immediately known, but Estonian officials blame GPS jamming in the region on Russia.
Finland’s national carrier said it is suspending flights to Estonia’s second largest city for a month after two incidents of GPS disruptions last week.Credit: AP
Flight approaches to Tartu Airport rely on GPS signals, said Finnair, which is the only airline to fly into that city.
But there are other navigational tools that can be used, and the airline said it would suspend daily flights there from April 29 to May 31 so that an alternate solution can be installed at the airport.
“Most airports use alternative approach methods, but some airports, such as Tartu, only use methods that require a GPS signal to support them,” said Jari Paajanen, Finnair’s director of operations, on Monday (Helsinki time).
Finnair said GPS interference has been increasing over the past two years.
“Finnair pilots have reported interference especially near Kaliningrad, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean,” the company said.
Paajanen said disruptions to GPS don’t usually result in safety issues as long as there are other options for airport approaches.
“Our pilots are well aware of the issue, and the aircraft have other navigation systems that can be used when the GPS system is unserviceable,” Paajanen said.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that jamming carried out by Russia is so dangerous that sooner or later it will cause a crash, the Baltic News Service said.
“This is a deliberate action that interferes with our lives lived in a dangerous situation and this can be considered as a hybrid attack,” Tsahkna told Estonian broadcaster ERR.
Disturbances have increased since 2022, and Finnair pilots have reported interference especially near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea coast, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean, the company said.
Neither the Kremlin nor Russia’s Defence Ministry immediately replied to requests for comment on Monday.
Earlier this month, Germany said Russia was very likely behind a series of disturbances affecting navigation in the Baltic region.
The German Defence Ministry pointed to Kaliningrad as their source, though it declined to give any details citing “reasons of military security”.
At the time, Moscow did not comment on such accusations.
AP, Reuters
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