Finnair cancels flights due to unruly Russians

Finnair has canceled all flights to the city of Tartu in eastern Estonia. Reason: GPS disruptions from Russia.

Finnair Airlines has stopped flying to the Estonian city since Monday, April 29, after two planes were unable to land there last week. Due to severe disruption of GPS signals, both flights eventually returned to Helsinki. The Finnish company announced the suspension of its flights until May 31. In the meantime, the airport plans to create an alternative system that does not require GPS signals. Finnair flights were the only scheduled international services to and from the airport.

Estonia is angry about the unrest. According to his foreign minister, these were “deliberate actions” as part of a Russian “hybrid attack.” The minister said: “Russia knows very well that this disruption poses a great danger to our aviation and violates international treaties.” Tartu is not the only region affected by Russian GPS jamming. These disturbances are also causing navigation problems elsewhere around the border, and not just in the Baltics. “It also started to reach the northern side of the Gulf of Finland. The same thing happened in Sweden where it reached Swedish airspace,” said Finnair pilot Laurie Sweeney. Reuters.