The Finnish airline Finnair will suspend flights to Tartu, Estonia, for a month due to continuous interference found with its GPS. According to Finnair, flights will be suspended so that a solution can be implemented for Tartu Airport that allows the safe and smooth operation of flights without the GPS signal. «Most airports have alternative methods for approach, but some airports, such as Tartu, only have methods that require a GPS signal as support. The GPS interference that occurred in Tartu forces us to suspend flights for the time being until alternative approach methods are created,” says Jari Paajanen, director of the Finnair operations center, in the press release. It is believed, with numerous episodes to confirm it, that Russia and its Baltic jammer based in the Kaliningrad exclave are behind these disturbances.
Russia, attack on two Finnish flights over Estonia (in NATO airspace): GPS blocked, forced to reverse course
Flights over Estonia forced to change route
But what happened? Two flights of the Finnish airline traveling from Helsinki to Tartu, in full NATO airspace, suffered an attack on their navigation systems when they arrived close to the destination airport.
The GPSs were completely obscured leaving the crew with no signal to continue on their way to their destination. Given the night time, the two flights, one on Thursday evening and the other on Friday evening, found themselves unable to proceed with the landing, forcing the pilots to reverse the controls and return the plane towards the departure airport. According to Finnair, GPS interference in the area may prevent the plane from approaching and landing at the airport. “Flight safety is always the most important priority for us and, when a GPS signal is currently needed to get close to Tartu, we cannot fly there in case of interference,” says Paajanen. According to the press release, Finnair is the only airline operating international flights to Tartu. Since 2022, interference to their satellite channels has increased and Finnair pilots have reported disturbances especially in the vicinity of Kaliningrad, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.
The alarm of the Baltic countries
The foreign ministers of the Baltic countries have raised the alarm that GPS disturbances in the area have become so widespread that they could lead to a plane crash. “Jamming,” the work of interfering with signals, is a technically simple operation, in which the jammer sends a radio signal strong enough to mask the data coming from the satellites. In recent months, Russia has been increasingly accused of being behind these acts.
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The Russian Baltic jammer
For months, heavy interference has been reported in the navigation systems of aircraft flying over the Balkan area of the Suwalki corridor. And after numerous analyzes it emerged that Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave, is the epicenter from which these disturbances would originate. The Baltic jammer wanted by Moscow to influence air traffic in the area would be based there. The first signs date back to several months ago when a sudden downturn in GPS signals from Warsaw to Berlin was reported. According to a map of transmissions drawn by gpsjam.org in those days there would have been the highest level of interference right above Kaliningrad. In recent days the British Air Force has published a report showing over 45 thousand flights affected by interference in their navigation systems while flying over the Balkan area. “Russia is suspected of launching extremely dangerous electronic attacks against thousands of British tourist flights,” aviation sources said.
What are the risks for airplanes?
Interference to aircraft GPS systems can affect flight tracking displays and, in extreme cases, affect the actual operation of the aircraft. Airlines and flight crews are aware of these disturbances (so-called jamming), which can sometimes even be accidental, and are trained to use backup equipment when they occur, ensuring the safe operation and completion of flights. Commercial flight crews are trained in advanced risk management, meaning that should a false GPS signal create a warning in the cockpit, the crew will still respond calmly and methodically, diagnosing the problem and taking appropriate action .
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