Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon) has agreed to pay USD55million to settle its portion of the Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation suit which alleges it conspired with other air freight carriers to fix the prices of cargo shipments.
The proposed settlement, which requires the approval of a judge, was filed in US District Court in Brooklyn.
The price fixing class action lawsuits began in 2006 and were taken up on behalf of purchasers of international airfreight services, including importers and exporters of products to and from the United States. The lawsuits were filed after the US Department of Justice and the European Commission launched an investigation into the air freight industry.
It is claimed that between at least January of 2000 and February of 2006, major international cargo airlines from around the world conspired to inflate the price of shipping goods by air by manipulating their fuel and security surcharges. Plaintiffs claim the conspiracy increased global shipping prices, costing businesses and individuals that ship goods by air billions of dollars in losses.
In all, 22 defendants have settled in the antitrust litigation, with over USD903million having been paid out since proceedings began in 2006. However, six defendants including Air China (CA, Beijing Capital), Air India (AI, Delhi International), Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International), Atlas Air (5Y, New York JFK), EVA Air (BR, Taipei Taoyuan) and NCA - Nippon Cargo Airlines (KZ, Tokyo Narita), have refused to settle with their case still pending.
