Airlines fined €800m for ‘deplorable’ cartel
British Airways is among 11 airlines that have been fined a total of €800 million by the European Commission for price fixing.
The airline was fined €104 million for fixing the price of air cargo between 1999 and 2006.
Also involved in the cartel were Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, SAS, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Air Canada, Qantas, LAN Chile and Cargolux.
The fines were imposed yesterday after a four-year investigation in Europe, the US and Asia.
Lufthansa escaped a fine because it reported the price fixing to authorities.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia described the cartel as “deplorable†and said it would have continued if the EC had not intervened.
It said the airlines “co-ordinated their action on surcharges for fuel and security without discounts”.
“With today’s decision the Commission is sending a clear message that it will not tolerate cartel behaviour,†said Almunia.
BA said the fine fell within the provisions made in its 2006/2007 accounts.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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