623 GPS Spoofing Incidents Reported in Delhi Airspace in Two Months

New Delhi: Airlines reported as many as 623 incidents of GPS interference in the airspace around Delhi during January and February this year, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 2,354 GPS interference incidents were recorded between November 2023 and December 2025.

To address such disruptions, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory circular on November 24, 2023, outlining measures to deal with interference in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The aviation regulator later introduced a standard operating procedure on November 10, 2025, requiring real-time reporting of GPS spoofing and GNSS interference incidents in the vicinity of Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been regularly informing the Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) about such incidents for investigation.

According to the minister, disruptions caused by GPS spoofing have become a global issue, particularly in regions close to conflict zones. The aviation industry has also identified cybersecurity threats such as ransomware and malware as additional risks to aviation systems.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) categorises GNSS spoofing as a form of deliberate radio frequency interference. Its GNSS manual includes guidelines for preventing and responding to such incidents, including continuous threat monitoring, risk assessments and deployment of mitigation measures. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also issued advisories to airlines on handling such threats.

Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu had said that contingency procedures were used for flights approaching Runway 10 at Delhi airport whenever GPS spoofing occurred. However, aircraft operations continued normally on other runways equipped with conventional navigation systems.

Aviation experts say GPS spoofing can transmit false navigation signals to aircraft, potentially showing incorrect positions or triggering misleading terrain alerts. Such incidents have been reported within a radius of about 60 nautical miles around Delhi.

During such disruptions, air traffic controllers often guide pilots manually to ensure safe navigation and landing.

With inputs from IANS