GPS interference causes Ryanair flight diversion after Russia tampering claims
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The flight had to be diverted to Poland after it faced issues with its GPS. A Ryanair flight descending into Vilnius airport on Thursday was diverted to Warsaw due to GPS interference, Lithuania’s air navigation authority has reported. The Boeing 737 Max 8-200 departed London Luton on Thursday and was on approach to the runway at Vilnius airport in Lithuania, lowering to an altitude of 850 feet (259 meters), when it lifted off again.
The flight then headed to Warsaw, around 249 miles away, reports say. A spokesperson of Lithuania’s air navigation authority said on Friday that “the plane experienced GPS signal interference,” adding that the pilot took the decision to divert the flight.
"All other planes were landing at the airport as usual," the spokesperson said. The country’s defence minister said that it is investigating the incident. In April 2024, Finnair said it would be cancelling all its flights to Tartu airport in Estonia until June due to “GPS interference in the area”.
“The approach methods currently used at Tartu Airport are based on a GPS signal and GPS interference in the area affects the usability of this method,” the Finnish airline said last year. Finnair says GPS interference has increased significantly since 2022, with the airline’s pilots reporting interference near Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland.
