Flights stopped
Estonia accuses Russia of GPS signal interference
The Finnish airline Finnair has suspended its flights to the Estonian city of Tartu for a month due to GPS interference. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna described the GPS disruptions as the result of a "hybrid attack by Russia".
The Russian government has been accused of interfering with satellite-based navigation systems for years. However, in the course of the war in Ukraine, reports of possible manipulation have multiplied enormously.
On Sunday, the foreign ministers of the three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania warned in an interview with the British newspaper "Financial Times" that Russia was increasing the risk of a flight accident through large-scale "jamming", i.e. the targeted interference of GPS signals. The chief diplomats referred to flights from and to Finland.
Finnish jets had to return to Helsinki
According to Finnair, its pilots have already reported GPS malfunctions on several occasions, particularly near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and around the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Last week, two aircraft en route from Helsinki to Tartu returned to the Finnish capital due to GPS malfunctions.
Now looking for approach solution without GPS signal
Air traffic to Tartu will now be interrupted until "an alternative approach solution that does not require a GPS signal can be found", Finnair explained on Monday. Estonia's foreign minister complained: "Russia knows very well that the disruption it has caused is very dangerous for our aviation and violates international conventions to which Russia is also a party." The disruptions were the result of "absolutely deliberate actions", Tsahkna told public broadcaster EER.
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