The flag of Finland (Photo by Santeri Viinamäki (CC))

Finnish airport authorities say that aeroplane flights were jammed 2,800 times by Russia over the course of 2024, Finnish media corporation Uutissuomalainen reports.

A few years ago, aeroplanes mainly relied on GPS in their approach, landings and take-offs of airports. But since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been deliberately jamming international aerospace of countries across its borders that support Ukraine. In practice, meaning all European nations part of the European Union, NATO or aligned to these alliances.

Fourteen Finnish airports – including Helsinki-Vanda and Turku, have already started to use other, ground-based and radar navigation equipment to help planes land safely, similar to equipment that was used before GPS came in full use by the world’s aviation sector. The airports of Kemi-Torneå, Kokkola and Joensuu will start using the alternative systems this winter and spring. | © 2025 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com