Centre confirms GPS spoofing near Delhi airport, says contingency measures used to help flights

The Centre on Monday confirmed that some flights experienced GPS spoofing near the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi while approaching runway no. 10.

In a reply in the Lok Sabha, Union minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the incident did no effect the movements of the flights.

"Some flights reported GPS spoofing in the vicinity of IGIA, New Delhi while using GPS based landing procedures, while approaching on RWY 10. Contingency procedures were used for GPS spoofed flights approaching to RWY 10. There were no effects on movements of flights, on other runway ends having conventional navigational aids being operational," he said.

He added that the DGCA has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) on November 10 for Real-Time Reporting of GPS Spoofing/GNSS Interference Events around IGI Airport.

"Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also requested Wireless Monitoring Organization (WMO) to possibly identify the source of interference/ spoofing," he said.

Last month, there were reports of GPS spoofing at the Delhi airport, leading to some disruption in operations.

What is GPS spoofing?

GPS spoofing is the act of faking or manipulating GPS signals so that a device (phone, drone, car, ship, etc.) reports a false location instead of its real one.

How it works

• GPS devices rely on satellite signals. In spoofing, someone broadcasts fake signals that overpower the real satellite signals, tricking the device into:
• thinking it is somewhere else, or
• miscalculating the time or route.

Why it’s used

• To hide or mask real location
• To bypass geo-restrictions
• To mislead navigation systems (ships, drones, cars)
• In cyberattacks or military operations
• For cheating in location-based apps or games