Two Finnair flights en route from Helsinki to Tartu were forced to return to Finland after experiencing GPS navigation disruptions, suspected to be caused by Russian signal jamming. This issue led Baltic state foreign ministers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to express concerns about the potential dangers such interference poses to civilian air traffic. The affected flights highlighted increasing incidents of GPS jamming in the Baltic region, which experts say have impacted thousands of flights and raised safety risks in maritime operations as well.

In response, Finnair has announced a suspension of flights to Tartu, Estonia’s second-largest city, which relies solely on GPS for aircraft landings. The airline plans to halt these flights from April 29 to May 31, 2024, to explore alternative navigation solutions. The interference incidents have been particularly frequent in areas close to the Russian mainland and its Kaliningrad exclave, affecting not only air travel but also maritime navigation in the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Estonian officials have labeled the GPS disruptions as a form of hybrid warfare, potentially threatening the safety of international air traffic and constituting a deliberate act by Russia. The issue gained further attention following a similar incident in March 2024, when an RAF aircraft carrying the UK’s defence secretary experienced GPS jamming near Kaliningrad.

The Baltic states are discussing proactive measures with international allies to address and mitigate the risks of Russian GPS jamming, emphasizing the importance of maintaining safety and security in the region’s aerospace and maritime domains. Meanwhile, Finnair assures that, despite the suspension, alternative navigation systems are in place to ensure the safety of its flights amid the ongoing disruptions.