Finnair to resume flights to Tartu following implementation of alternative approach technology
Finnair is to resume flights to Tartu, Estonia from 2 June 2024, following the airport’s implementation of non-GPS [Global Positioning System]-reliant approach methods. The route is operated twice a day,…
Finnair is to resume flights to Tartu, Estonia from 2 June 2024, following the airport’s implementation of non-GPS [Global Positioning System]-reliant approach methods. The route is operated twice a day, six days a week, by Finnair’s partner Norra with its ATR aircraft.
The airline had previously suspended services to Tartu for a month as a result of GPS interference in the area, something that had sometimes prevented aircraft from approaching and landing at the airport. However, the introduction of alternative approach methods to include non-GPS methods (employing radio signals sent from ground stations) has enabled Finnair to resume its operations there.
These types of ground-based methods “have been in use in aviation for a long time, and GPS interference does not affect their usability,” explains Finnair. “Similar traditional approach methods are still in use at some airports as an alternative to GPS-based approach methods”.
Vice president, operations control at Finnair Jari Paajanen praised Estonian Air Navigation Services (ENAS) for doing “an excellent job in implementing the alternative method”, thanking all of Finnair’s Estonian partners for “solving this matter so swiftly”.
Although Finnair recognises that “GPS interference has increased clearly since 2022,” it adds that this has not impacted the safe operation of flights, with Finnair aircraft systems able to detect GPS interference and employ alternative navigation systems.
