LONDON – Airlines are battling a scourge of passengers traveling with forged Covid-19 health certificates.
The documents are often the results of the Covid-19 test requested by many countries on arrival. The body of the International Air Transport Association says it has pursued false certificates in several countries, from France to Brazil, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Border control authorities and police forces have also reported arrests of people selling documents in the UK, Spain, Indonesia and Zimbabwe, among others.
The problem is hitting international flights more than domestic ones, which usually do not require certification at this time. Airlines that are more dependent on cross-border travel, especially those operating in Europe, are increasingly alarmed as they look to the summer, when they still hope that demand will start to return.
The proliferation of fake health certificates exposes a logistical deadlock, while airlines rush to navigate post-pandemic travel standards and reorganize their systems to facilitate compliance – and boost demand. Airlines say their staff is not prepared to manage and control all the new health certificates needed and worry that the problem will be exacerbated when some countries also start applying for vaccination certificates.
At Brussels Airlines, staff shared fake certificates they encountered – including one from an incident last week – to keep up to date with the techniques they use for fraud.