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Interference began soon after presidents Sauli Niinistö and Joe Biden met.
Planes flying near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and near Finland’s eastern border with Russia have noticed interference with their GPS signals, according to Finnish authorities.
Reuters has reported that Finland’s flag carrier Finnair has noticed interference with its planes’ GPS signals soon after Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö met Joe Biden in Washington on Saturday to discuss deepening defense ties between Finland and Nato due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Kaliningrad is a Russian province situated between NATO member countries Lithuania and Poland, south of Finland.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin told Reuters she had no information about the source of the disturbances, and would refuse to say if it originated in Russia.
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“If they would be caused by outside influence, it would surely be said publicly,” Marin said.
There has been no official response from Russian authorities regarding the matter.
A number of Finnair’s Asian-bound flights and most of its European ones go past Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea’s eastern coast.
Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, said it had asked aviation authorities to alert pilots to the situation by issuing an official Notice to Airmen notification.
The disturbances were continuing, it said.
“Flying is still safe. Airlines have operational procedures for such situations if the GPS signal is lost,” Traficom’s director Jari Pöntinen said in a statement.
Lithuanian airline Transaviabaltika said it had been forced to cancel 18 flights between Helsinki and Savonlinna in eastern Finland after the lack of GPS made it impossible to land, due to Savonlinna airport not having alternative navigation equipment.
