Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have paid $23 million in penalties for price fixing
December 10, 2012
Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines Cargo have forked
out $23 million in fines for illegal cartel involvement.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced late last week that the airlines had settled their respective penalties of $11.25 million and $11.75 million.
According to the ACCC, Australia’s Federal Court ordered the penalties as part of larger cartel conduct proceedings against a number of international airlines.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims says the airlines are the eleventh and twelfth airlines to settle their penalties,
which are the second and third largest ordered as part of the cartel proceedings.
“The penalties against Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines Cargo bring the total penalties ordered in Australia to $91 million,”
Sims says in a statement.
“These are the highest total penalties resulting from a single ACCC investigation.”
According to the ACCC, the cartel conduct included an attempt by Singapore Airlines Cargo to fix rates for meat exports going to US and Australian troops stationed in the Middle East.
Injunctions restraining each airline from engaging in such conduct for five years were also ordered by the Federal Court.
The ACCC commenced proceedings against Singapore Airlines Cargo and Cathay Pacific in 2008 and 2009 respectively, alleging that they engaged in cartel conduct, including in relation to fuel and other surcharges applied to the carriage of air freight.