In New Zealand, the Commerce Commission reached settlements with 11 carriers, including Air New Zealand.
In New Zealand, the Commerce Commission reached settlements with 11 carriers, including Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand will defend a multi-billion-dollar class action in the US that it colluded to fix prices on international air freight services after a court set a trial date for the claim.
The Auckland-based airline, Air China and Air China Cargo, Air India, and Polar Air Cargo and itsparent Atlas Air Worldwide, failed in an application to strike out the claim on Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn. Judge John Gleeson set a final pre-trial hearing for January 8, 2016, with jury selection and the trial to start on January 25.
The claim was filed in 2006 on behalf of six freight forwarders and has been led by litigation firm Hausfeld. The law firm has reached settlements worth almost US$1.04 billion ($1.63 billion) with 27 airlines, including Qantas Airways, which paid US$26.5 million. The biggest settlement was US$115 million with Korean Air. The plaintiffs estimate damages at about US$2.66 billion, which would treble to as much as US$7.98 billion under US antitrust laws.
The freight forwarders allege the airlines "conspired to develop and implement an industry-wide index for calculating fuel and security surcharges that were applied to thousands of routes flown worldwide by the defendants, including flights to and from the United States", and were able to adjust those rates 28 times between January 1, 2000 and September 30, 2006.
The alleged price-fixing has been the subject of antitrust actions, with big settlements from airlines in Europe and the US. In New Zealand, the Commerce Commission reached settlements with 11 carriers, including Air New Zealand, securing penalties totalling $45 million, or about 10 per cent of the revenue generated from air freight forwarding services in and out of New Zealand in 2006.
"Air New Zealand has been cleared by regulators or courts of involvement in cartel conduct in US, Europe and Australia," a spokeswoman said. "We will continue to defend this civil claim."
