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CNN Business
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The aviation industry is concerned that 5G technology could interfere with critical on-board instruments, leading major international airlines to cancel flights to the US.
But business is going on as usual across Europe, where the latest generation of high-speed mobile networks are being rolled out smoothly.
“The technical data received from the EU manufacturer does not currently provide conclusive evidence to support any safety concerns,” the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told CNN Business on Wednesday.
“At present, EASA is not aware of any in-flight incidents caused by 5G interference,” added the regulator, which oversees civil aviation in 31 European countries.
The situation is broadly similar in the UK, where the Civil Aviation Authority published a safety notice on Tuesday saying that there have been “no known instances of 5G interference causing failure or unexpected behaviour of aircraft systems.”
The lack of caution in Europe contrasts with the United States, where airlines have warned that the expansion of superfast 5G mobile service without additional safeguards could have devastating consequences for the industry and economy. U.S. airlines and aviation regulators have warned that 5G cell phone antennas near airports could distort radar altimeter readings that tell pilots how far they are from the ground.
“Any failure or interruption [radar altimeters] “When an aircraft pilot experiences an accident, the consequences can be catastrophic and multiple fatalities can occur,” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) said in 2020.
Why are there potential issues in the US but not in Europe? It comes down to technical details.
US mobile operators are rolling out 5G services on airwaves between 3.7 and 3.98 GHz. Mobile operators paid the US government $81 billion in 2021 for the rights to use these frequencies, known as the C-band. But in Europe, 5G services use the slower 3.4 to 3.8 GHz spectrum.
The aviation industry is concerned that U.S. 5G service is too close to the 4.2-4.4 GHz frequency band used by radar altimeters. Europe doesn’t face the same risk, the industry says, because there’s a much larger buffer between the radar altimeter spectrum and 5G.
“Without appropriate mitigation measures, this risk could have widespread impacts on aviation operations in the United States as well as other regions where 5G networks are deployed adjacent to the 4.2-4.4 GHz frequency band,” IATA and IFALPA said in a statement.
There are other differences in how 5G will be deployed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): Some countries use lower power levels, limit the placement of 5G antennas near airports, and mandate that antennas be tilted downward to limit potential interference with aircraft.
In France, carriers like AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are citing 5G as an example of how aviation can work seamlessly together, but a technical memo from the French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) says the height of 5G antennas and the strength of their signals will determine how close they can be to runways and aircraft flight paths.
Antennas around France’s 17 major airports will also need to be tilted away from flight paths to minimise the risk of interference, Eric Fournier, the agency’s director of frequency planning and international affairs, told CNN.
“Initially we had very little information about what the problem was, so we took fairly protective measures,” Fournier said.
France’s civil aviation authority told CNN on Wednesday that “French operators have not recorded any cases where 5G technology has interfered with aircraft altimeters.”
The FAA is so concerned about the possibility of interference with altimeters that it issued an emergency order in December prohibiting pilots from using potentially interfered with altimeters around airports where they are needed in low visibility conditions. The rule would prevent pilots from landing using instruments alone, which could prevent planes from reaching some airports under certain circumstances.
EASA acknowledged the FAA’s concerns in December, noting that they “address circumstances unique to operations in U.S. airspace.” European regulators have recommended that airlines “consider exposing flight crews to unreliable radio altimeter scenarios” during training and make crews aware that “the performance of on-board radio altimeters may degrade.”
In the US, disagreements over the risks posed by 5G have led to a fierce battle involving federal regulators and airline and telecommunications companies, with major airlines including British Airways, Lufthansa (DLAKY), and Emirates canceling flights to the US over the issue.
“The power of the US antenna [has] “The antennas are twice as tall as other locations. We were unaware that the antennas themselves were mounted in a vertical position rather than at a slight angle,” Emirates President Tim Clark told CNN Business on Wednesday.
“We therefore took the decision late last night to suspend all services until the situation is clearer,” he added.
AT&T, which owns CNN’s parent company, and Verizon said Tuesday they were delaying the rollout of 5G at cell towers around some airports. The wireless technology’s rollout near major airports had been scheduled for Wednesday.
“We are frustrated that the FAA has been unable to do what nearly 40 other countries have done to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation service, and we urge them to do so in a timely manner,” AT&T spokeswoman Megan Ketterer said.
— Chris Liakos contributed reporting.
