Qantas and British Airways fined $25 million for forming cartel

Qantas Airways and British Airways were fined $18 million by an Australian court yesterday for having formed a cartel to fix freight charges in concert with other international airlines after legal action was brought on them by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in October.

The Federal Court in Sydney has ordered Qantas to pay $13 million and British Airways $5 million, an amount which is far lesser than penalties handed out to some of the other 30 airlines alleged to have taken part in the global cartel.

Both the airlines have been ordered to pay approximately $130,000 each toward the ACCC's costs.

ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel said the airlines had been fined on a lower scale because they had co-operated with its investigation.

"This action and the recent introduction of the bill criminalising cartel conduct will create a much stronger disincentive for cartels forming and continuing," Samuel said.

"It will also step up pressure on cartel members to take advantage of the ACCC's immunity and co-operation policies to report their fellow cartel members before they find themselves facing possible time behind bars. There are no safe havens for illegal cartel conduct," he added.