Second Finnair flight turns back flights there from Tartu due to GPS interference - ERR News - UPDATE Finnair suspends all flights there

What's New: More reports of flights being aborted because of interference with GPS.

Why It's Important: Additional evidence of the subtle but noteworthy degradation of system safety and efficiency caused by jamming.

What Else to Know:

• Most airports have equipment and procedures to continue operations even when GPS is denied.
• Some smaller ones, like Tartu, rely upon solely on GPS to guide aircraft to the runway (approach) and/or safe landings in low visibility. So if GPS isn't available, aircraft can't land.
• A number of airports in northern Norway rely entirely on GPS-based approaches. Russian jamming has been a problem there for years.
• GPS-based approach procedures are helpful in all weather and visibility conditions (especially at night, for example) and always add to the safety of operations.
• Elsewhere the world - An aircraft trying to land at Beirut recently returned to Turkey because of interference with GPS.

?Second Finnair flight turns back from Tartu due to GPS interference

ERR

27.04.2024 05:48

On Friday night, a second Finnair plane, which was on its way from Helsinki to Estonia was forced to turn back as GPS interference meant it could not land in Tartu.

"The same thing happened as the day before. Somewhere halfway along its route, the plane turned back, around 15 minutes before landing. The pilot said that approaching Tartu at night requires an accurate GPS signal, and there was not one because of interference from the eastern neighbors," a passenger, who was on board the flight, told ERR.

On Thursday night, another Finnair plane traveling from Helsinki to Tartu also had to turn around due to GPS interference.

However, the daytime flight from Helsinki to Tartu on Friday had no problems and was able to land in Tartu before later departing for Helsinki on schedule.

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Finnair Suspends Flights To Estonian Airport Due To ‘GPS Interference In The Area’

The approach to Tartu is dependent on GPS – and the Russian border is only 40km away

Simon Calder

Travel Correspondent, 29 April 2024

A leading international airline has cancelled all flights to an Estonian airport until June at the earliest due to “GPS interference in the area”.

Finnair?says that its normal services to Tartu, the cultural hub of Estonia, cannot operate safely because the approach is dependent on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology.

In?a post on X, the Finnish airline said: “We’re suspending our flights to Tartu from 29 April until 31 May.

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