OFT halves BA fine over price fixing scam
The Office of Fair Trading has massively reduced a £121.5 million fine against British Airways for a fuel surcharge scam.
The watchdog has more than halved the fine to £58.5 million as part of its new guidelines for financial sanctions and because BA had cooperated with the enquiry.
Although the penalty is significantly lower, it is still a record fine by the OFT.
BA admitted in 2007 that it had colluded with rival Virgin Atlantic over price fixing on long-haul flights between August 2004 and January 2006.
At that time, BA agreed to pay £121.5 million, but later reassessed its position when a criminal case against a number of current and former BA executives – Martin George, Andrew Crawley, Alan Burnett and Iain Burns – collapsed.
In a statement BA said: "We are pleased that this matter, which concerned events between 2004 and 2006, has been settled."
Virgin Atlantic escaped any fine because it blew the whistle on the collusion.
The OFT said the fine sends out a strong message that co-ordinating pricing through the exchange of confidential information between competitors is unlawful.
Ali Nikpay, OFT senior director of cartels and criminal enforcement, said: "The size of the fine underlines that it is important for companies to take steps to ensure that they have an effective compliance culture.
"The fine would have been higher still but for the co-operation provided by BA throughout the OFT’s investigation. Without this, together with BA’s admission of the infringement, the case would have taken considerably longer to resolve."
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.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Suspension of all regional trains in Catalonia following two new rail accidents in Spain