A chartered aircraft carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had its GPS navigation system jammed while on approach to Plovdiv in Bulgaria. An EC spokesperson confirmed the incident, which happened on Sunday, saying that Bulgarian authorities suspect the attack was “due to blatant interference by Russia.”
Local officials told The Financial Times that pilots had resorted to using hard copy maps to land at Plovdiv Airport (LBPD) after a flight from the Polish capital, Warsaw. However, aircraft tracking company Flightradar24 analyzed data and ATC communications from the flight and determined that the flight crew asked to fly the ILS approach to Runway 30, which doesn't require GPS information. “The flight landed at 14:32 UTC without incident,” according to Flightradar24.
“The satellite signal transmitting information to the plane’s GPS navigation system was neutralized,” a Bulgarian government spokesman said in a written statement. “To ensure the flight’s safety, air control services immediately offered an alternative landing method using terrestrial navigation tools.”
According to footage aired on multiple TV news outlets, including Bloomberg Television, the aircraft carrying Von der Leyen was a Dassault Falcon 900LX. The Belgian-registered jet (tail number OO-GPE) is operated by charter group Luxaviation.
Citing "regulatory reasons," the company did not comment directly on the incident, but told AIN that its "pilots have demonstrated full proficiency and adherence to [the] highest safety standards." TV news reports showed Von der Leyen disembarking from the aircraft and being greeted by Bulgarian officials.
Later on Sunday, the aircraft flew from Plovdiv to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. On Monday, it continued to Constanta in Romania as part of Von der Leyen’s tour of seven European Union states.
According to EASA and air traffic control agencies in several Eastern European states, there has been a marked increase in GPS jamming since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, a Russian government spokesman denied that the country had been involved in the jamming attack on Von der Leyen’s aircraft, which happened three days after Russian forces destroyed part of a European Union office in Kyiv as part of a heavy drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
On Tuesday, Italian defense department officials confirmed that their government is now considering plans to block details of head-of-state flights from being publicly accessible. Reportedly, other EU states are also stepping up consideration as to how government flights can be made more secure in the face of escalating GPS jamming and spoofing threats.
This story was updated on September 2 to include details about how authorities are responding to the incident in Bulgaria.