LONDONWASHINGTON, Jan 24 Reuters The aviation industry will press regulators this week for urgent action to help tackle GPS spoofing amid a surge in such activity, which can send commercial airliners offcourse, due to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

International trade body IATA and European regulator EASA have organised a meeting in Cologne, Germany, on Thursday that will bring together airlines, plane manufacturers and aviation technology firms, as well as national and regional regulatory bodies, to discuss the issue.

Spoofing might involve one country39;s military sending false Global Positioning System GPS signals to an enemy plane or drone to hinder its ability to function.

The problem for commercial aviation comes if that false signal is then picked up by a GPS receiver in a passenger plane, potentially confusing the pilot and air traffic control.

And there are signs that39;s becoming more common.

In December, aviation advisory body OPSGROUP flagged a surge in GPS spoofing affecting private and commercial jets around the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran and Israel, and the Black Sea.

AirBaltic, which flies out of Eastern Europe39;s Baltic region, has also reported an increase in spoofing, as well as jamming of signals.

While technology exists to mitigate such activity, it is mostly confined to military users or those who can afford to buy it privately, like business jet owners.

Certifying new technologies for civil aircraft can take up to a…