Air Cargo Class Action
Latest News
Following a long period of arguments about the way the case has
been pleaded in court documents, the case is now moving
forward.
In August 2010 the Full Court of the Federal Court overturned an
earlier decision striking out the case, and reinstated the
pleading. We were very pleased with this outcome.
The Sixth Amended Statement of Claim details the claims, which
the respondents deny and are defending.
On 20 May 2011, the Federal Court fixed the date for opting out of
the class action by 19 August 2011. Please refer to the "Opt
Out Notice" item on the left for more detail.
Another hearing is scheduled on 10 June 2011, when we will return
to the court for further orders to progress the class action.
On 20 May 2011, the Federal Court fixed the date for opting out
of the class action by 19 August 2011. Please refer to the "Opt Out Notice" item
on the left for more detail.
The action
Maurice Blackburn is conducting a price fixing class action in
the Federal Court of Australia against seven major international
airlines including Qantas, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay
Pacific, Air New Zealand, JAL and British Airways in relation to
the provision of international air freight services since 1 January
2000. The class action seeks damages and other relief on behalf of
purchasers of air freight services for losses suffered as a result
of the alleged cartel conduct by the airlines.
This class action alleges contraventions of the price fixing
provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and
relates to fuel and security surcharges imposed by
the airlines on international air freight services. It is
claimed that the surcharges were used by the airlines to increase
prices and did not reflect the external costs for providing
international air freight services.
Latest news - Prosecutions
On 9 November 2010, the European Commission fined 11 air cargo
carriers a total of €799,445,000 for operating a worldwide cartel
for cargo services.
All of the airlines received a reduction to their fines under
the Leniency Notice. Lufthansa received full immunity from fines
under the Commission's leniency programme, as it was the first to
provide information about the cartel.
The Commission stated that the cartel members coordinated
various elements of price for a period of over six years, from
December 1999 to 14 February 2006. The cartel arrangements
consisted of numerous contacts between airlines, at both bilateral
and multilateral level, covering flights from, to and within the
European Economic Area.
Companies prosecuted by the EC that are also
defendants in our action include:
- British Airways;
- Cathay Pacific;
- JAL;
- Lufthansa;
- Singapore Airlines; and
- Qantas.
On 30 November 2010, Singapore Airlines Cargo (the fourth
respondent to the class action) agreed to plead guilty in the
United States Department of Justice and pay a US$48
million fine for fixing the price of air cargo to customers
"in the US and elsewhere" from 2002 to 2006.
The total criminal fines imposed by the US DOJ amount to more
than US$1.7billion against 21 airlines, four executives have been
sentenced to serve prison time and 19 executives have been charged
with wrongdoing.
On 11 May 2011, the High Court of New Zealand ordered Qantas to pay
a $6.5 million penalty for breaches of the Commerce Act, the
highest penalty to date in New Zealand for price fixing.
Click on the "Additional information" item on the left for more
detail about the continuing investigations by the ACCC and other
competition regulators around the world and other class actions in
respect of the alleged air cargo cartel.
Who are the group members in this Maurice Blackburn
class action?
Group members are all those persons in Australia as at 11
January 2007 who, during the period 1 January 2000 to 11 January
2007, paid identified amounts totalling more than AUD$20,000 for
the carriage of goods to or from Australia including in each
instance a component by air. It does not matter from which airline
or freight forwarder you purchased the air cargo services.
What you can do
If you fit the above description, you may register your interest
with us. We will contact you upon receiving your completed
registration of interest form to invite you to retain us as your
lawyers with respect to your individual claim. The
registration of your interest with us does not obligate you to pay
any legal costs.
If you are unsure whether you are a group member in the class
action or if you have any questions about the class action, please
contact Erdem Ozyurek at Maurice Blackburn on (03) 9605 2892.
Media Release