British Airways, Ryanair and EasyJet are among the airlines affected.
Thousands of flights in Britain have been hit by ‘extremely dangerous’ disruptions, believed to be carried out by Russia, according to a report in The sun. The electronic attacks have affected satellite navigation (satnav), making routes difficult for aircraft to navigate. Pilots also have difficulty telling colleagues where they are in the sky, the outlet said. Sometimes the situation becomes so bizarre that planes had to swerve and dive to avoid ‘obstacles’ that were not actually there.
The sun said that until the end of March, 2,309 Ryanair flights and 1,368 Wizz Air aircraft had navigation problems in the Baltic region.
Flights from British Airways, Jet2 and EasyJet were also affected.
Jamming interrupts satellite signals, including GPS, to reach the plane and tricks the pilots into thinking they are somewhere they are not.
“We have seen a sharp increase in attacks on these systems, which poses a security risk,” EASA boss Luc Tytgat told The Sun.
The newspaper claimed that suspected Russian attacks have increased from less than 50 per week last year to more than 350 per week last month.
Ryanair said: “If location systems, such as GPS, fail to function, crews switch to alternative systems.”
EasyJet said it has procedures in place to limit GPS problems.
However, Glenn Bradley of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said flying was still the safest form of travel.
“GPS interference does not directly affect an aircraft’s navigation and while it is a known problem, it does not mean that an aircraft has been deliberately stuck,” he said in a statement.
“While operators have taken measures to ensure continued safe operations, we are working closely with other aviation regulators, airlines and aircraft manufacturers to curb and mitigate the risks of jamming and continuously monitor incidents worldwide,” the statement said.
Last month, Russia is said to have jammed the satellite signal of a plane used by British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps to travel from Poland back to Britain.
Reuters news agency, citing a government source and journalists, reported that the GPS signal was disrupted for about 30 minutes as the plane flew close to Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
