Australia's Federal Court has ordered Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) to pay AUD15 million Australian dollars (USD11 million) in penalties for its role in the global air cargo cartel.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement the Court had found Air New Zealand had been party to agreements with other airlines which fixed the price of fuel and insurance surcharges on air freight services from Hong Kong, and insurance and security charges from Singapore, to various locations, including Australian airports, between 2002 and 2007.
“These illegal price-fixing agreements unfairly reduced competition for the transport cost for goods flown into Australia,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
The Court ordered Air NZ to pay a pecuniary penalty of AUD11.5 million for price fixing in relation to fuel surcharges imposed for cargo from Hong Kong to Australia. An additional AUD3.5 million penalty is payable for price fixing in relation to the insurance and security surcharge from Singapore to Australia. Air New Zealand has also agreed to pay AUD2 million towards the ACCC’s legal costs.
Since the ACCC first launched its investigation into the air cargo cartel in 2006, penalties totalling AUD113.5 million have been imposed against a total of 14 airlines which, aside from Air New Zealand, include Qantas, British Airways, Air France-KLM, Cargolux, Martinair (Netherlands), JAL - Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways International. A penalty hearing against the 15th airline, Garuda Indonesia, was heard before Justice Perram this week. Judgment in that matter has been reserved.
The Australian suit is only one of several filed by antitrust commissions around the world including the European Union, Switzerland, Brazil, South Korea, the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
