Interesting article:

British Airway's flight attendants have been engaged in an elaborate scam selling fake watches,
perfumes and other luxury duty-free goods to passengers on long-haul flights such as Perth to
London.

British Airways in London confirmed the allegations yesterday, saying it viewed the matter extremely
seriously.

"There have been a handful of cases involving a few staff", a spokesman said.

The sting which costs passengers hundreds of dollars, has been operating on long-haul flights that
travel through Singapore and Honk Kong.

On a typical flight from London to Perth, the crew would work on the London-Singapore leg and
take a day off before working on the Singapore-Perth leg and resting a day.

Then they reverse the roster for the return trip to London.

A few airline staff have allegedly been buying fake watches and other luxury goods on their crew
rest days for a fraction of the genuine price,

The fake goods are swapped on board the plane for the genuine articles.

The fakes are sold from the in-flight duty-free trolleys, while the genuine products are pocketed by
the cabin crew and sold on the black market in Britain, netting a profit of as much as $400 an item.

The scam was uncovered after a passenger returned a watch to the manufacturer after it failed to
keep time.

Though the paperwork was in order the watch was not and the manufacturer referred the matter to
British Airways.

Sources say the airline compensated the passenger but apparently requested he sign an agreement
not to publicise the incident.

Though British Airways has played down the extent of of the problem, some insiders say that the
problem is more widespread than the few cases that have come to light.