'Flights Faced GPS Spoofing': Centre Confirms Cyber Attack Bid At Delhi's IGI Airport, 6 Others

Delhi Airport Cyberattack: The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday confirmed that attempts were made to interfere with GPS near Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The disclosure came in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha by Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.

On the first day of Parliament’s Winter Session, the government informed that GPS spoofing and GNSS interference had affected Delhi and several large airports over the past year, prompting flight disruptions and subsequently stricter checks, as the ministry outlined technical risks and safety framework.

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The minister informed that regular reports of GPS spoofing or interference are coming from the major airports across the country since the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) made it mandatory in November 2023 to report any case of GPS jamming or spoofing. These airports are in Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

GPS Spoofing AT Delhi Airport Affected Operation

Describing an attempt at GPS spoofing at IGI airport, Naidu told the Rajya Sabha that several flights coming in to land at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) faced GPS spoofing when they were trying to use the satellite-guided system for Runway 10. Because of this problem, pilots had to switch to other procedures.

On the other hand, flights using the other runways, which depend on normal ground-based navigation, were not affected at all.

GPS Spoofing Attempts: Safety Check, Reporting Rules Tightened

The DGCA issued an advisory circular in November 2023 to manage the cases of GNSS interference and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated November 10, 2025, for real-time reporting of GPS spoofing events around IGIA. As per SOP, pilots and traffic controllers are supposed to report abnormal GPS activity immediately.

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India Uses Old-Style Tool To Avoid GPS Interferences

The Civil Aviation Ministry said India has kept a strong backup system of old-style ground-based navigation and tracking tools (called Minimum Operating Network or MON). These systems work perfectly even when satellite GPS signals get jammed or tricked, which is why flights stayed safe during the recent spoofing incidents.