Ryanair flights: Boeing 737 flight from Luton Airport forced to abort after GPS 'jammed' near Nato border with Russia

The plane - a Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 - left from London's Luton airport on Thursday (16 January), and was descending into Vilnius Airport when it was forced to make a quick change. The plane had to kick back into gear and fly several hundred kilometres into Warsaw, Poland, after it had started lowering into the Lithuanian capital.

Lithuanian air navigation personnel said the plane had experienced some "GPS signal interference" forcing the pilot into the snap decision to divert. The plane had lowered to an altitude of around 850 feet (259 metres) before it was forced to lift off again and fly to Warsaw, around 400km (249 miles) away.

A spokesperson for Oro navigacija said the pilot decided to divert while other flights operated as normal, adding: "All other planes were landing at the airport as usual." Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene told reporters following the incident that the government would investigate.

The unusual incident took place inside a region in which Estonia and Finland last year alleged Russia has placed equipment that jams GPS navigation devices. The Baltic Sea is one of three regions, including the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, where the Russian military has been the most active, with an increase in GPS disruption following their presence.

Russia has denied claims it has deliberately disrupted signals, but GPS issues have still impacted eastern Europe in areas close to the NATO border with Russia. Experts have said the issue of GPS jamming has existed since before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. But Cyrille Rosay, a senior cybersecurity expert at the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said it has worsened since February 2022 when it was launched, adding his organisation now tracks "several thousand incidents" a year.