Govt confirms GPS spoofing near Delhi Airport, GNSS interference across major airports including Mumbai, Kolkata

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Monday confirmed that several flights approaching Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi recently reported incidents of GPS spoofing while approaching runway 10 of the airport.

“Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai airports have all recorded GNSS interference incidents,” said Naidu.

The revelation came in response to a starred question asked by Rajya Sabha member S Niranjan Reddy in the Parliament Winter Session that began on Monday.

Reddy asked the Civil Aviation Minister in the Rajya Sabha to answer "whether the government is aware of recent incidents of GPS spoofing reported at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), New Delhi and the steps taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) to investigate and mitigate such incidents in future".

What is GPS spoofing?

According to cybersecurity software company McAfee, GPS spoofing is a practice in which a GPS receiver is manipulated or tricked to broadcast false GPS signals. By tampering with the signals, the receiver can be misled into showing incorrect coordinates — in some cases, placing the device in a completely different location than where it actually is.

“This form of cyberattack undermines the reliability of GPS data, which is vital for a variety of applications, from navigation to time synchronisation and more,” according to the cybersecurity software firm.

800+ flights affected

Last month, airlines flying over Delhi reportedly experienced severe GPS spoofing incidents – resulting in false navigation data transmission, including inaccurate aircraft locations and misleading terrain warnings. More than 800 flights were delayed due to the Delhi airport technical glitch that affected the Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems, news wire PTI reported earlier.

To mitigate GPS spoofing risks, the DGCA has taken multiple steps. They include:

• Advisory Circular ANSS AC 01 (2023) to address GNSS interference in Indian airspace;
• New Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) issued on 10 November for real-time reporting of GPS spoofing events around IGI Airport.

The AAI has sought assistance from the Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) to identify the source of the interference. Following a high-level meeting, the WMO was directed to mobilise additional resources to trace the spoofing origin using preliminary location data provided by DGCA and AAI, reported ANI.