Preventing the misuse of commercial aviation

The report “Preventing the misuse of commercial aviation: Using passenger data to identify high-risk passengers and emerging threats” offers only a high-level overview of the activities carried out by Transcrime within the Horizon Europe-funded project TENACITy (Travelling Intelligence Against Crime and Terrorism), which addressed the growing need for more effective, coordinated, and intelligence-led use of travel data in the fight against terrorism and serious crime.

The report examines how criminal actors exploit transportation systems for different illicit purposes and outlines the analytical value of passenger data (Passenger Name Record and Advance Passenger Information) in detecting aviation-related risks. Drawing on a survey of law enforcement authorities and Passenger Information Units (PIUs) in ten EU countries, Transcrime also developed a Risk Management Framework (RMF), which employs behavioural indicators – developed through machine-learning techniques – to analyse PNR and API data and assign risk scores, helping to prioritise checks and investigative efforts.