Interference with the GPS system, attributed to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, continues to affect electronic devices in Cyprus but flight safety is not an issue, the transport minister said on Monday.

“This interference is an external phenomenon, we cannot change it or influence it, but all necessary steps have been taken for the critical services,” Alexis Vafeades told journalists.

Responding to a follow-up question, the minister confirmed that by ‘critical services’ he meant aircraft navigation.

“There are systems in place that help us provide services for the airspace, without any problems. Air traffic controllers can handle, and are handling, the issue, and airline pilots know how to handle it,” said Vafeades.

“It’s not pleasant, but it’s manageable.”

The entire region, not only Cyprus, has been affected. Asked how other countries are handling the situation with GPS jamming, the minister said he has not yet contacted foreign governments.

In Cyprus, vehicles, mobile phones and even drones have been affected, as confirmed by an official in June. The same official said the problem is not continuous but intermittent.

GPS jamming and ‘spoofing’ in the Middle East has spiked since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza last October. While such jamming can hinder communications and guided weaponry, it also interferes with civilian communications and, more dangerously, civil aviation.

According to a report by NPR published in April, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin traced the source of the jamming to an airbase in Israel.

Israel acknowledged after the start of the war in Gaza last October that it was blocking GPS for defensive purposes but has not publicly commented on more advanced interference.

GPS spoofing sends out false signals to GPS satellites that overwhelm the real signals.

A network of satellites and control stations that underpins global navigation, GPS is owned by the United States and operated by the US Air Force.

The same NPR report had quoted a consultant to Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines who said the GPS spoofing was affecting the ability to land aircraft, forcing pilots to rely on traffic control instructions and visual aids.

In December 2023 the relevant international body watered down a long-standing international ban on GPS interference. Members of the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which regulates communication technology, passed a motion that for the first time allows spoofing of GPS for national security reasons.

Although the risks of false GPS locations are much higher in the air, they are also affecting shipping – where navigation is normally controlled by the satellite-based Automatic Identification System (AIS).