Wellington: British Airways and Cargolux International Airlines SA were ordered in the Auckland High Court yesterday to pay multi-million dollar fines for operating an illegal cartel to fix freight rates in New Zealand.
The two international airlines admitted the offence last month in settlements reached with the Commerce Commission, New Zealand's competition watchdog, which filed actions against 13 international airlines in December 2008.
The court ordered Cargolux to pay six million New Zealand dollars (Dh16.88 million) in penalties and NZ$25,000 in costs.
British Airways is to pay NZ$1.6 million and NZ$100,000 in costs, its penalty discounted because it promised further cooperation in the ongoing action, commission counsel Mary-Anne Borrowdale said in a statement.
Imposing surcharges
She said Qantas Airways Ltd of Australia also admitted its involvement and reached a settlement, but the court had not yet decided its penalty.
The commission said court proceedings against 10 other airlines who denied colluding to raise freight prices by imposing fuel surcharges on shipments into and out of New Zealand for seven years would start in May.
They were named as Air New Zealand Ltd, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Emirates, Japan Airlines International Co Ltd, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd, Malaysian Airlines System Berhad Ltd, PT Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd, Singapore Airlines Ltd and Thai Airways International Pcl.