IATA's Urgent Appeal to ITU: Protecting Aircraft Safety Systems Amid 5G/6G Expansion
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a critical call to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and national telecommunications regulators, emphasizing the need to safeguard aircraft safety systems as 5G and future 6G networks expand. With the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (WRC-27) approaching, the ITU is conducting in-depth studies to determine the technical conditions for global 5G/6G deployment, a crucial step in establishing a long-term framework for protecting essential aviation systems while enabling future telecom connectivity.
IATA's submission of a working paper to the ITU's WP5B Meeting in November 2025 highlights the operational scenarios and safety requirements that should guide future spectrum policy. The paper emphasizes the importance of considering all key safety scenarios, including take-off, landing, taxi, and go-arounds, as well as adverse weather conditions and emergency situations.
IATA's Key Demands:
- Future spectrum policy must account for all critical safety scenarios, ensuring radio altimeters, which provide essential height information, remain operational in all conditions.
- A minimum separation of 35 feet (11 meters) between aircraft and terrestrial 5G transmitters is crucial to prevent interference.
The 5G Challenge:
5G networks operate across various frequency bands and power levels, with a particular focus on the 5G band adjacent to the Radio Altimeter (RAD ALT) allocation (4.2–4.4 GHz). Telecommunications providers have implemented temporary mitigation strategies, such as reducing transmission power and applying runway exclusion zones, to minimize potential interference with RAD ALT systems.
However, these measures are temporary and will expire in the coming months in countries like Canada and Australia. In the US, plans to auction the Upper C-Band (3.98-4.2 GHz) are imminent, and existing mitigations are set to be removed by 2028. This creates a significant challenge, as more resilient radio altimeters won't be available to airlines until the early 2030s, leaving a mitigation gap that complicates safe airline operations.
IATA's Warning:
IATA's Nick Careen warns that current 5G mitigations are not long-term solutions and emphasizes the need for clear, consistent safeguards to bridge the gap until new altimeters are available. The industry requires a unified approach to ensure the safe coexistence of radio altimeters and other safety-critical avionic systems with next-generation telecom networks across all flight phases.
For more information, contact IATA's Corporate Communications team at +41 22 770 2967 or corpcomms@iata.org.
