GPS Spoofing at Delhi Airport: Government Confirms No Flight Disruptions Despite Navigation Challenges

Government officials have stated that GPS spoofing incidents near Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) did not disrupt flight operations, despite earlier reports suggesting hundreds of delayed flights in November.

Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu confirmed in a Rajya Sabha written response that while multiple flights reported GPS spoofing during approaches to Runway 10, pilots successfully implemented contingency protocols. He was addressing a question from MP S Niranjan Reddy.

The Minister clarified that operations continued normally as other runways equipped with traditional navigation systems remained functional throughout the incident. This contradicts earlier reports that claimed approximately 800 flights faced delays at Delhi airport on November 6.

GPS or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) spoofing involves transmitting false signals to manipulate navigation systems, creating potential aviation hazards.

The issue extends beyond Delhi, with the Minister revealing that since the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) mandated incident reporting in late 2023, similar interference has been reported at Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai airports, indicating a nationwide cybersecurity challenge for aviation infrastructure.

In response, the DGCA has implemented several measures, including an advisory circular on handling GNSS interference from November 2023 and a new Standard Operating Procedure issued on November 10 that requires real-time reporting of GPS spoofing and jamming incidents around IGIA.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has enlisted support from the Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) to trace interference sources. Following high-level discussions, the WMO has been directed to deploy additional resources to investigate suspected transmission zones identified by aviation authorities.

India maintains a Minimum Operating Network of ground-based navigation and surveillance systems as a backup strategy, mirroring global redundancy models that ensure operations can continue during satellite-based system failures.

The Minister warned that the aviation sector faces increasing vulnerability to ransomware and malware attacks worldwide. In response, AAI is upgrading its cybersecurity infrastructure following guidelines from the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).

He emphasized that cybersecurity measures continue to evolve as new threats emerge in the aviation sector.