29 April 2024 , 15:45
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Two commercial flights in central Europe were forced to turn around after suspected navigational jamming from Russia.
Two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Tartu, Estonia, turned around both Thursday and Friday last week after their navigation systems were targeted.
The airline has now announced the flights to Tartu will cease operation from today until May 31 until the interference is addressed.
They said in a statement: ‘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.
‘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.’
Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna added: ‘We consider what is happening with GPS as part of Russia’s hostile activities, and we will definitely discuss it with our allies.
‘Such actions are a hybrid attack and are a threat to our people and security, and we will not tolerate them.’
The flight map showed how the plane was forced to turn back (Picture: Flight Radar)
The Nordics have been targeted by Russia for years (Picture: Getty)
Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis spoke to the Financial Times about the increase of jamming from Russia: ‘If someone turns off your headlights while you’re driving at night, it gets dangerous.
‘Things in the Baltic region near Russian borders are now getting too dangerous to ignore.’
Most large airports are able to have planes land without GPS, but Tartu’s airport requires GPS signal for the aircraft to land – meaning the planes had to turn back to Helsinki.
Russia is suspected to have been targeting aircraft systems for years, but only recently caught attention for affecting RyanAir, Wizz-Air, British Airlines, Easyjet, TUI and Jet2.
Between August 2023 and March 2024 alone, 46,000 flights in areas such as the Baltic, Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean logged interference issues.
RyanAir had 2,300 flights affected, Wizz-Air recorded 1,300 flights jammed and British Airlines, Easyjet, TUI and Jet2 were also affected.
Chatham House Russian expert Keir Giles, who is familiar with planes, previously spoke to Metro.co.uk about how disrupting electronic systems is one way Russia can practise for war with Nato.
He added: ‘If Russia found itself able to deny GPS services not just for aircraft but also for ground transport, this would immediately sow chaos. What we have seen over the last few months is Russia practicing immobilizing Europe.
‘But those who are most directly affected are the countries closest to the jamming or the aircraft flying overhead. As a result, most of Europe has barely noticed.
‘Normalisation is bad. This is just a symptom of how much Russia does damage to our countries, ordinary people and businesses – and costs us. But nobody knows what’s happening – or pretends they don’t.’