No charges for price-fixing SIA Cargo staff

SINGAPORE Airlines(SIA) Cargo - which was recently fined US$48 million by the US for its part in an international price-fixing cartel - will not take action against any of its staff for their part in the crime.
A spokesperson for the company said the airline's executives "have acted in good faith and without any personal gain".
The US Department of Justice confirmed that it would not charge any SIA Cargo employees.
The spokesperson stressed however that the carrier would fight similar charges brought by other countries and the EU. "SIA Cargo will not be pleading guilty in all other jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand," he said.
SIA said during the release of its third quarter results last mouth that it has allocated $156 million for fines imposed by the EU and South Korea.

Finnair's Asian cargo on the up

Finnair's Asian cargo operations grew 41 per cent in January compared with the same period of 2010.
A Pick-up in demand, between Europe and Asia and the impact of cargo aircraft traffic launched in May last year are evident in cargo growth, Finnair's chief financial officer, Erno Hilden said.
In 2010 the airline launched freighter flights to Hong Kong and Seoul in May after converting the last two MD-11s in its passenger fleet into freighter configuration.

Airlines appeal Euro cartel fine

AIR Canada, British Airways World Cargo, Cargolux and Cathay Pacific have made an appeal against the European Commission's (EC) cargo price-fixing fine.
The four airlines and seven others - Air France-KLM, Japan Airlines, LAN, Martinair, SAS, Sinapore Airlines and Qantas - were fined a total of €799 million(US$1.09 billion) by the EC last November. The EC accused the airlines of "operating a worldwide cartel" from 2000 to 2006.
In a statement Catha, which was fined €57 million ($78 million), said: The appeal was filed with the General Court  of the European Union, and follows an appeal Cathay Pacific filed in the Seoul High Court in December 2010 challenging a similar decision by the Korean Fair Trade Commission.
A Cathay spokesperson went on to comment: We believe we have good grounds for making these appeals, but, as these matters are being litigated, we are not in a position to provide additional information at this stage.
The EC reduced Cathay's fine by 20 per cent for its cooperation during the investigation. Lufthansa and its subsidiary Swiss were granted full immunity. Air France-KLM, British Airways, CargoLux, SAS  and Singapore Airlines were those with the heaviest penalties.
Cargolux, recipient of last year's second-largest EC fine after Air France, filed an appeal on 25 January 2011 against its €79.9 million ($109.4 million) penalty.
At this stage Cargolux does not wish to make any further comments, the company said.