"Ukraine and Middle East Wars Cause Severe Aircraft Radio Interference"… Airlines Raise Safety Concerns

Radio Interference, GPS Jamming Threaten Aviation Safety
Impact Extends Hundreds of Kilometers from Battlefield

Following the war in Ukraine, clashes between Israel and Hamas have erupted, raising concerns that commercial flights across Europe are facing safety threats due to radio interference emitted from various operational zones. Such radio interference and disruptions to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are reportedly affecting areas hundreds of kilometers away from the conflict zones, raising fears that if the wars prolong, flight safety and airfares in Europe and the Mediterranean region could be impacted.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 21st (local time), The New York Times (NYT), citing documents from European Union (EU) regulatory authorities and internal airline reports, stated, "Radio interference and spoofing caused by the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have intensified, disrupting satellite signal reception for civilian aircraft," adding, "This has led to cases where incorrect location information or inaccurate alerts cause confusion in flight operations." Spoofing here refers to situations where radio interference or GPS disruption causes aircraft to misinterpret coordinates and deviate from their flight paths.

NYT pointed out, "The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also warned pilots about the possibility of GPS interference in the Middle East," noting, "Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, radio frequency interference aimed at disrupting satellite signals used by rockets and drones has sharply increased, and it has surged further since the outbreak of the war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas last month."

In the case of such military jamming signals, civilian aircraft systems often fail to filter them out properly, which can lead to serious accidents. According to the aviation monitoring organization OpsGroup, in September, a Brazilian airline Embraer aircraft heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), nearly entered Iranian airspace due to interference signals, but the pilot managed to turn the aircraft away.

The intensity and frequency of these interference signals are also increasing. According to Airbus, the number of radio interference incidents involving Airbus aircraft last year approached 50,000, more than four times the previous year’s figure. It is even reported that such interference is occurring about 300 km away from battlefields. The regions currently experiencing the most severe radio interference include the Black Sea area from T?rkiye to Azerbaijan, the Mediterranean corridor from Cyprus to Libya, and the Baltic Sea and Arctic airspace near Poland and Latvia.

If the wars continue for an extended period, concerns are growing that not only civilian flight operations but also the economy and security of neighboring regions will be increasingly affected. According to NYT, if GPS and satellite signal disruptions persist, industries highly dependent on satellite signals?such as communications, power, broadcasting, and financial markets?will suffer significant damage. A UK study estimates that if satellite signals are disrupted for more than five days, damages in the UK alone could exceed $6.3 billion (approximately 81 trillion KRW).