For three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number of navigation system disruptions in Europe, including Latvian airspace, has been on the rise. However, those responsible stress that they do not affect flight safety, Latvian Radio reported.
In the first three months of this year, 290 cases of global navigation satellite system interference were recorded in Latvian airspace. This is about 55.1% more than in the same period last year.
In total, 820 disruptions were recorded across the country in 2024, compared to 342 in 2023 and only 26 in 2022.
As Arnis Lapiņš, a representative of SJSC “Latvijas gaisa satiksme/Latvian Air Traffic” pointed out, the increase can be assessed depending on the period compared. If you look at the previous month, there is a decrease, but if you compare it to the situation before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the increase is significant. At that time, such cases were rare.
“These disruptions are emerging. Pilots know this – they count on it. Usually, they are not long-lasting, they are literally for a few seconds.
“If the disruption lasts longer, there are other systems to use. Pilots are trained, and they know how to do it. But of course, that has to be taken into account. Yes, it is an inconvenience, no doubt. For the passengers on the plane, it means exactly nothing – the flights are safe, the pilots are in control of the situation. The pilots will always take the passengers from A to B and C. And the person sitting on the plane will of course not notice anything, because this situation has no impact,” Lapiņš explained.
The disruption could be due to natural causes, such as solar flares, but it is also likely to come from Russia, according to Latvijas gaisa satiksme. This problem is not unique to Latvia – similar disruptions have been observed in other parts of Europe, notably the Baltic States, Poland and the Nordic countries.
Although the disruption does not threaten flight safety, it can cause difficulties at smaller airports without modern landing systems. This is why landing systems which allow aircraft to land even in poor visibility conditions such as fog, are particularly important in such cases. This system allows planes to land safely even if the GPS signal is jammed.
Aivis Vincevs, Head of Operational Situations at the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency, said that GPS interference is also becoming visible on flight tracking platforms such as Flightradar24.
People often report that a Russian aircraft appears to be in Latvian airspace, but in reality, it is not. This is the result of GPS signal interference, which may incorrectly depict the flight path on the map.
“Pilots detect this when they receive an alert from the aircraft’s information systems, which warn that GPS data interference is occurring. In simple terms, it’s a red light that comes on to tell you that the GPS data is disturbed at that moment. That is the only warning. In no other way is the flight affected at that moment. The pilot then informs the air traffic control centre accordingly, and the flight continues using other alternative information systems. So, historically GPS data has not been the basic model that is used for flight assurance, but there are these other alternative systems,” Vincevs said.
Disruption can have a significant impact on flights at airports without instrument landing systems. For example, last year in Estonia, airlines stopped flights to Tartu airport because GPS interference prevented safe take-offs and landings.
In Latvia, there are no such problems because airports use alternative systems.
Currently, there is no system in place that could completely eliminate these GPS interferences. However, airlines are actively using other navigation systems to ensure flight safety.
