GPS scrambling forces Ryanair jet landing in Lithuania to divert to Poland  

Aviation authorities in Lithuania have opened an inquiry after a Ryanair flight intending to land at Vilnius International Airport (VNO) was forced to abandon its approach and divert to an airport in Poland. The incident resulted from “GPS signal interference” as the aircraft approached the Lithuanian capital, although those investigating the matter have not confirmed the source of the alleged scrambling. 

The alleged incident occurred on January 16, 2025, and involved Ryanair flight FR3466 heading from London-Luton International Airport (LTN) to Vilnius, Lithuania, on the airline’s regular service between the two airports. The flight was being operated by one of the carrier’s Boeing 737 MAX-8200 aircraft registered EI-IFR.  

The aircraft departed from London-Luton at 14:35 local time for the two-hour and 15-minute flight to Vilnius. According to tracking data from Flightradar24, the flight proceeded on course, routing across the North Sea, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, and Poland before entering Lithuanian airspace at around 16:38 GMT. The flight then began its descent, passing to the south of Kaunas before heading directly towards Vilnius.  

Having completed a full circuit over Vilnius Airport at around 4,000ft (1,219m), the aircraft subsequently made a single approach to runway 19 at the airport. However, at approximately 800ft (244m) above the airfield, the crew elected to perform a missed approach before climbing the aircraft straight ahead and climbing back up to 28,000ft (8,534m). The aircraft then routed directly to Warsaw-Chopin Airport (WAW) in Poland where it landed safely at 18:16 GMT.    

Flightradar24Having remained on the ground in Warsaw for around 3.5 hours, the aircraft then re-attempted to fly to Vilnius where it eventually landed at 23:48 GMT, some five hours after it was originally due to arrive.  

As reported by the London-based Evening Standard, a spokesperson for Oro Navigacija, Lithuania’s air navigation provider, said that the diversion to FR3466 was the result of “GPS signal interference.” However, the spokesperson added that all other flights operating into and out of Vilnius Airport on the day in question had operated as normal and had been unaffected by similar incidents.  “All other planes landed at the airport as usual,” the spokesperson added.  

Bradley Caslin / ShutterstockLithuania’s national defense ministry has since confirmed the launch of an official investigation into the incident which was deemed serious enough to cause a 250-mile (400km) diversion of a commercial airplane carrying up to 189 passengers. The incident comes after neighboring countries Estonia and Finland had previously accused Russia of using GPS scrambling software to interfere with passenger flights close to their airspace, which lies directly along NATO’s border with Russia.  

At the time of writing, Russia has denied any such involvement in any of the reported incidents. More than 800 instances of GPS signal interference have been reported in Lithuania since November 2024, the Lithuanian air navigation authority has said. This figure is an increase from a total tally of just 124 incidents for the whole of 2023. 

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