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.