COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Finland’s national carrier Finnair said Monday it is temporarily suspending flights to Estonia’s second-largest city for a month after two of its planes failed to land in Tartu due to GPS glitches.
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 blamed the GPS glitch in the region on Russia.
Plane approaches to Tartu airport currently rely on GPS signals, said Finnair, the only airline flying to that city. But there are other navigation aids that can be used, and the airline said it would suspend daily flights there from April 29 to May 31 so that an alternative 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,” said Jari Paajanen, Finnair’s director of operations.
Finnair said GPS interference has increased 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 that when GPS is not relied upon when approaching airports, service disruptions typically do not lead to safety concerns. “Our pilots are well aware of the problem and the aircraft have other navigation systems that can be used if the GPS system is not working,” Paajanen said.
However, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Monday that Russia’s jamming is so dangerous that it will sooner or later cause a crash, according to the Baltic News Service.
“So this is a deliberate action that disrupts our lives in a dangerous situation and this can be considered a hybrid attack,” Tsahkna told Estonian broadcaster ERR.
