Finnish Finnair suspends flights due to Russian interference in GPS signals

Daily flights to that Estonian city will be suspended until May 31, the airline said, in a statement cited by the Efe agency.

“Last week, two Finnair flights had to return to Helsinki after GPS interference prevented them from landing in Tartu”, the note reads.

The methods used at Tartu airport are based on GPS technology and interference “frequent in the area” makes it difficult for planes to approach, Finnair explained.

Over the next 30 days, the airport will attempt to develop technologies that allow flights to operate safely without using GPS.

Finnair is the only airline operating international flights to Tartu.

GPS interference has increased since 2022 and Finnair pilots reported cases especially near Kaliningrad, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, the company also highlighted in the statement.

Earlier this month, Estonian authorities said that interference incidents were becoming more frequent and attributed them to Moscow’s attempts to disrupt Ukrainian drone activity on Russian territory.