British flights Russian jamming: Thousands of Ryanair and WizzAir flights to and from Europe affected by suspected Russian jamming

Thousands of flights including those of popular airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air have reportedly been affected by suspected Russian jamming of GPS systems. About 46,000 aircraft in total have logged problems with GPS over the Baltic Sea since last August.

According to a report, more than 2,300 Ryanair flights have reported incidents of GPS interference since last August as well as almost 1,400 at Wizz Air, 82 at British Airways and four from easyJet. The figures come from an analysis of flight logs with the website GPSJAM.org.

Most of the GPS problems reported on the website have come in eastern Europe, bordering Russia. The satellite-based GPS forms part of an aircraft’s navigation system, and interference can pose a safety risk.

Glenn Bradley, the head of flight operations at the CAA, said: “Aviation is one of the safest forms of air travel and there are several safety protocols in place to protect navigation systems on commercial aircraft. GPS jamming does not directly impact the navigation of an aircraft, and while it is a known issue, this does not mean an aircraft has been jammed deliberately.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “In recent years there has been a rise in intermittent GPS interference which has affected all airlines. Ryanair aircraft have multiple systems to identify aircraft location, including GPS. If any of the location systems, such as GPS, are not functioning then the crew, as part of standard operating procedures, switch to one of the alternate systems.”

An easyJet spokesperson said there were “multiple navigation systems onboard commercial aircraft as well as procedures in place which mitigate against issues with GPS that can occur for various reasons”.

It comes after the UK government confirmed in March that an RAF plane carrying the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, had its GPS signal jammed. It is understood that the GPS signal was blocked for around 30 minutes as Grant Shapps’ RAF jet flew close to the edge of Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Lithuania and Poland. 

The flight lost GPS navigation and internet access on the outbound and return journey. It is believed that the electronic interference is directly related to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Defence sources said there was no danger to Shapps, though they called it a “wildly irresponsible” act of electronic warfare. GPS-jamming equipment can be operated by aircraft, including drones, but is usually carried out using ground vehicles.

NationalWorld has contacted Wizz Air for comment.