More than 46,000 flights across Europe have experienced GPS signal disruptions since August 2023, with Russia accused of being responsible.
The incidences were reported over the Baltic Sea region between August 2023 and March 2024. Most occurred in Eastern Europe near borders with Russia, according to a report in The Sun based on data from the website GPSJAM.org.
Of those, more than 2,300 Ryanair flights and 1,400 Wizz Air flights reported having GPS issues over the Baltic Sea region, according to The Guardian.
British Airways and EasyJet flights also reported similar issues.
The UK government said last month that a Royal Air Force jet carrying British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps had its GPS signal jammed as it flew near the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson suggested that flights experiencing GPS disturbances while flying near Kaliningrad was “not unusual.”
“It didn’t threaten the safety of the aircraft and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS jamming near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory,” the spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
On April 25 and April 26, two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Estonia encountered GPS disturbances, preventing them from landing and forcing them to turn around.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has raised concerns, warning that “things in the Baltic region near Russian borders are now getting too dangerous to ignore.”
“If someone turns off your headlights while you’re driving at night, it gets dangerous,” Mr. Landsbergis said in an interview with the Financial Times on April 28.
‘Hybrid Attack’
“We consider what is happening with GPS as part of Russia’s hostile activities, and we will definitely discuss it with our allies,” Mr. Tsahkna said. “Such actions are a hybrid attack and are a threat to our people and security, and we will not tolerate them.”Marko Mikhelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, has warned that Russia’s jamming of GPS signal systems could pose a risk to international air traffic.
“Allies should not look indifferently at Russia’s jamming of the GPS signal and thereby endangering international air traffic,” Mr. Mikhelson stated on X on April 27.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry told Reuters that Russia is “very likely” responsible for disturbances affecting GPS navigation in the Baltic region.
“The persistent disruptions to the global navigation satellite system are very likely of Russian origin and are based on disruptions in the electromagnetic spectrum, including those originating in the Kaliningrad Oblast,” the spokesperson stated.
Russia has not claimed responsibility for these disturbances.
