INCREASING incidents off lights experiencing GPS spoofing and jamming is a concern,and pilots need to be more vigilant,according to global airlines’grouping IATA. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 360 airlines that account forover 80 percent of the global air traffic. Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express and SpiceJet a real so part of the grouping. In recent times,the rehave also been instances of GPS spoofing and interference incident sat Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar,Hyderabad,Bangalore and Chennai airports. During interactions this week in Geneva,IATA officials saidr is ingincidents of GPS interference incidents area concern.

 

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said incidents of GPS spoofing and jamming require pilot stobe more vigilant interms of operation, because the increase has been very significant.“It exists right across the world now”. Global Positioning System(GPS)/ Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) spoofing and jamming refers to attempts to manipulateauser’s navigation system by giving false signals. International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO) identifies GNSS spoofing as a form of International Radio Frequency Interference(RFI).

 

Nick Careen, Senior Vice President Operations,Safety and Security at IATA,said that in the beginning, such incidents were in the Middle East and then, with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, it was happening in Eastern Europe.

 “Now, there are incidents in India,in Asia,in Venezuela...,”he said.Data from IATA showed the GPS loss rate measured as the number of GPS loss events per1,000flightsisestimatedto beat 59 in 2025 compared to 31 in 2022. These figures are based on data compiled from the Flight Data eXchange(FDX),an aggregated de-identified data base of flight data that ispart of the Global Aviation Data Management (GADM)programme.

 

It is con tributed to by airlines that are part of the programme.In 2022,the GPS loss rate was 31,based on a relatively low number of recorded flight sand in 2024,it was 56, showing as teady trend despite higher traffic volumes. The GPS loss rate is expected or each 59 this year,according to a presentation by Careen.He noted that the increase is “notable and concerning-- it suggests that GPS interference or jamming is becoming more frequent,not merely a function of flight volume”.