ESC welcomes Commission decision on Air Price Fixing Cartel

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10 November 2010

The European Shippers' Council has welcomed the announcement made on 9th November by Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia regarding a Commission decision on the cartel activities of 11 air cargo carriers.

The decision follows an investigation of the Commission which started in 2006 into price-fixing and cartel activity in which the Commission discovered that airlines had for over six years, from late 1999 to early 2006 participated in price fixing activities on costs associated with air freight worldwide.

Price fixing involved the fuel surcharge and after the attacks of September 2001 a Security Surcharge. The cartel member carriers calculated the surcharges in nearly identical ways, thus eliminating competition between them.

Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of ESC commented: "The effect of the surcharges illegally agreed and set by some airlines has been to artificially inflate cargo shipment prices to the benefit of those cartel members and to the detriment of the customer which is in clear violation of the EU competition rules."

"We are pleased that the Commission has finally issued its long awaited decision. The Commission has confirmed that the decision is binding proof that the illegal conduct has occurred, which now opens the way for compensation claims to proceed through the courts by those shippers that choose to. There are hundreds of shippers that have already signed up with various legal firms to pursue such claims on their behalf, and cases have already been filed in the UK and Dutch courts. I anticipate many more shippers joining such action as these cases now proceed following the Commission's decision."

"The most important outcome for ESC, however, from this whole affair is that this decision acts as an effective deterrent to anyone considering coordinating their pricing strategies in the future."

For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113

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