Dubai: The UAE aviation regulator on Thursday said the country’s airlines can land at runways approved by the US FAA when operating flights to the States.
Airlines are adjusting their schedules or cancelling flights to US after major telecom operators announced the deployment of 5G mobile network services near airports. The US aviation regulator - FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) – and Boeing are concerned that the 5G networks’ C-band frequency is too close to that used by radio altimeters on board aircraft.
UAE’s aviation watchdog said the FAA has generated a list of runways that aircraft, equipped with certain radio altimeters, can safely operate at because the susceptibility to interference from 5G C-band emissions has been minimised.
“This safety decision is to provide UAE operators alternatives to operate at certain US airports where 5G interference may be encountered,” General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said on its website.
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Although AT&T and Verizon have agreed to pause the 5G rollout near airports, multiple airlines are still cancelling flights or switching aircraft over concerns of radio interference. Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, British Airways, and Lufthansa are just some of the carriers adjusting their US operations.
Dubai’s Emirates announced that it would resume all US flights starting from January 20 after being cleared by the FAA.
Earlier on Thursday, UAE’s telecom regulator said that 5G networks had not caused any disruptions to air navigation systems in the country.
“With regards to the circulated news on the suspension of some flights to certain US airports due to 5G deployment, the TDRA clarifies that this issue is exclusively related to the US airports referred to, as new spectrum frequencies have been allocated to 5G that differ from the frequencies designated for use in our region,” said the regulator in a statement.
