European and US competition authorities have launched a widespread investigation into alleged cartel activity in the air cargo industry.
Overnight, a series of airlines have released details of the requests for information into alleged collusion, issued simultaneously by the European Commission and the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Major carriers so far include: British Airways, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines (JAL), Korean Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, Air France-KLM, Scandinavian Airlines Cargo (SAS Cargo), American Airlines, and United Airlines. Many airlines also had their offices raided and dossiers seized by officials.
The investigation is into price-fixing between carriers in the air cargo industry, in the form of a global cartel. The EC says in a statement that it "carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of several air cargo carriers [and] has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated article 81 of European law, which prohibits practices such as price-fixing." Many of the airlines known to be under investigation are drawn from the major airline alliances OneWorld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam.
However, cargo specialists Cargolux and Polar Air Cargo are also in the list of airlines being probed. The world’s two largest air cargo carriers, FedEx and UPS have not been contacted by either anti-trust body.
Flight International
Overnight, a series of airlines have released details of the requests for information into alleged collusion, issued simultaneously by the European Commission and the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Major carriers so far include: British Airways, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines (JAL), Korean Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, Air France-KLM, Scandinavian Airlines Cargo (SAS Cargo), American Airlines, and United Airlines. Many airlines also had their offices raided and dossiers seized by officials.
The investigation is into price-fixing between carriers in the air cargo industry, in the form of a global cartel. The EC says in a statement that it "carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of several air cargo carriers [and] has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated article 81 of European law, which prohibits practices such as price-fixing." Many of the airlines known to be under investigation are drawn from the major airline alliances OneWorld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam.
However, cargo specialists Cargolux and Polar Air Cargo are also in the list of airlines being probed. The world’s two largest air cargo carriers, FedEx and UPS have not been contacted by either anti-trust body.
Flight International
