Air travel authorities and airlines in Ireland have reported growing incidents of aircraft GPS systems being disrupted, a situation often attributed to Russian interference by European Union governments. The disturbance involves the manipulation of radio frequencies to hinder aircraft from acquiring the accurate signal or the transmission of false GPS signals fabricated to cause confusion. Although backup systems mostly render this disruption harmless, it has nevertheless created difficulties for airlines, one of which is Ryanair.
Since the onset of Russia’s assault on Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a surge in reports from EU airlines about GPS systems on-board their flights being tampered with or disrupted. This issue has escalated over the recent months to such an extent that GPS systems are no longer trusted in certain parts of the Baltic and Scandinavian regions, obliging planes to depend on various backup systems.
While the problem is primarily concentrated in northern and eastern Europe, it is also affecting flights registered in Ireland. A representative from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) stated that in conjunction with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, they have recorded a rise in incidents involving the disruption and/or falsification of global navigation satellite systems, including GPS. The representative emphasised that the authority has issued advice to Irish air traffic controllers to deter this threat which could potentially challenge safety.
He also mentioned that Ireland has legal measures in place to prevent the utilisation of any equipment that disrupts or falsifies signals. A recent study revealed that in excess of 2,300 Ryanair flights have reported GPS interference since the previous August. Although Aer Lingus did not comment on how its operations have been affected, it is reportedly not immune to GPS interference.
In the event of “jamming”, the IAA explained that the navigation signals get blocked intentionally using radio frequencies. However, during “spoofing”, bogus satellite signals are used to trick satellite receivers into calculating incorrect positioning, navigation and timing data. Despite this, experts in the aviation field have emphasised that with the prevalence of numerous backup systems, aircraft safety is not usually compromised by GPS jamming.