(MENAFN) Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 has denied reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane experienced GPS signal jamming during her trip to Bulgaria on Sunday.

The service stated on X that the aircraft maintained good GPS signal quality throughout the flight, which landed only nine minutes behind schedule. Flightradar24 also noted that some reports incorrectly claimed the plane “was in a holding pattern for 1 hour.” “The aircraft’s transponder reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing,” it added.

Earlier reports alleged that the pilots had to rely on “paper maps” due to severe signal disruptions and suggested Russia was responsible. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations as untrue.

The claims were later echoed by EU and Bulgarian authorities, with an EU Commission spokeswoman stating, “We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.”

The Bulgarian government said that during von der Leyen’s flight to Plovdiv, the satellite signals feeding the plane’s GPS navigation were temporarily neutralized. “To ensure the flight’s safety, air control services immediately offered an alternative landing method using terrestrial navigation tools,” the statement added.

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