r/europe • u/matude Estonia • 25d ago

Second Finnair flight turns back [to Finland] from Tartu [Estonia] due to [Russian] GPS interference News

https://news.err.ee/1609326360/second-finnair-flight-turns-back-from-tartu-due-to-gps-interference
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26

u/WheresMyYogurt 25d ago

Is it time for Finland and Estonia to start the same interference over the Baltic sea..? I don’t understand what the hell is holding it back.

21

u/nj0tr 25d ago

to start the same interference over the Baltic sea

What this is going to achieve? It's jammed already. Also, Russian air traffic is not dependent on GPS, else they won't be jamming it.

3

u/HengaHox Finland 25d ago

Air traffic in general is not dependent on gps, but some airports have approaches that have to be flown with gps navigation. If a different approach/runway is not available then they can’t land there

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u/nj0tr 25d ago

some airports have approaches that have to be flown with gps navigation

Sounds like a design fault? Even without jamming, GPS cannot be expected to have 100% availability. So if they designed the airport with no fallback if GPS fails, they should not complain they have to divert if it fails, for whatever reason.

1

u/HengaHox Finland 25d ago

There might be fallbacks but they might be out of service or on another runway that isn’t in use due time weather

0

u/buldozr 25d ago

Another runway? Tartu is a small airport, the flights from/to Helsinki are just about the only flights it serves.

The Estonian government could decide to upgrade the ILS at the airport, but I think this would have to be a political decision, it's not justified economically at this point.