Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said yesterday it had received a
formal letter of complaint from European Union regulators
investigating allegations of price fixing in the air cargo
business.
The EU and the United States have been investigating more than a
dozen airlines since at least early 2006 to discover if there was
collusion in the air cargo industry to fix prices on surcharges for
fuel, security and insurance.
The European Commission said on Friday it had sent out
Statements of Objections to a number of airlines, but did not name
them. British Airways, Air France-KLM, and Scandinavian airline
operator SAS Group later confirmed they had each received a
letter.
Cathay said it was reviewing the letter with its legal counsel
and would make a "timely response" to the objections.
"It is a lengthy and complex document, and only sets out the
(regulator's) preliminary findings resulting from its investigation
into the air cargo sector of the aviation industry. The
investigation involves many other airlines," the Hong Kong-based
carrier said in a statement.
It did not say what the objections were, but emphasized that
they were confined to air cargo operations and did not involve the
company's passenger business.
"Cathay Pacific has always supported fair competition, and
remains committed to compliance to all applicable competition laws
in the 35 countries and territories in which it operates," the
statement said.
Under EU law, the commission can fine companies accused of
operating a cartel as much as 10 percent of their annual sales.
Price-fixing, if proven, could also bring fines and other penalties
in the United States.
(Shanghai Daily December 26, 2007)