Airline suspends all flights to airport over Vladimir Putin's 'extremely dangerous' GPS jammers

Finland's national carrier Finnair said it is temporarily suspending flights to Estonia's second-largest city 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. Plane approaches to Tartu Airport currently 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.

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 when the GPS isn’t being relied upon for airport approaches, disruptions to the service don’t typically result in safety issues. “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.

However, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Monday that jamming carried out by Russia is so dangerous that sooner or later it will cause a crash, the Baltic News Service said. “So 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.

Currently, all flights at Tartu Airport have been cancelled, its website shows, for a month. Finnair said in a statement: "Finnair will suspend its daily flights to Tartu, Estonia, from April 29 to June 1, so that an alternative approach solution that doesn’t require a GPS signal can be put in place at Tartu Airport. The approach methods currently used at Tartu Airport are based on a GPS signal. GPS interference, which is quite common in the area, affects the usability of this approach method and can therefore prevent the aircraft from approaching and landing. This has had an impact on Finnair's flights.

"Finnair suspends its flights to Tartu for one month, during which time the aim is to build approach methods at Tartu Airport that enable a safe and smooth operation of flights without a GPS signal. If you have booked flights between Helsinki and Tartu on 29.4.-1.6.2024, you will receive a cancellation message from Finnair by text message and/or email. Please go to Manage booking and and check that we have your current contact information."

Today's announcement comes after two planes carrying passengers were forced to turn around during the flight due to suspected Russian GPS jamming. The two Finnair jets, which were headed from Helsinki to Tartu in Estonia, had to turn around and head back to their departure point on Thursday and Friday.

They were reportedly unable to navigate safely. Many believe that Russia is to blame and ministers in the Baltics have warned that Russia is acting in an "extremely dangerous" manner, and risking a devastating air disaster should they continue attacks on planes. The attacks involve bogus data being sent to navigation systems, forcing planes to swerve and dive to avoid phantom obstacles.

The top secret Russian signal jamming device is known as 'Tobol' and resembles an oversized silver dish with an antenna protruding from its middle. It disrupts signals travelling between satellites and the GPS systems on aircrafts and ships in the area by transmitting radio waves at the same frequency, confusing systems and rendering them unusable.

Over 46,000 aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea reported navigation issues between August 2023 and March this year, including airlines such as Ryanair, Wizz Air and British Airways, as reported by the Sun. Russia is also believed to be responsible for jamming satellite signals on an RAF plane transporting Defence Secretary Grant Shapps over Poland last month.