Qantas to face cargo cartel class action

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Friday, 13 August 2010

An Australian appeals court has ruled Australia's Qantas and six other carriers - Deutsche Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines and British Airways - must face a class action alleging they participated in a global conspiracy to fix rates for international air cargo shipments.

The Federal Court of Australia overturned an earlier lower court decision dismissing a group lawsuit.

The airlines conspired to fix cargo rates from January 2000 to January 2007, Auskay International Manufacturing & Trade Ltd, a manufacturer of central vacuum systems, claimed in the original 2007 lawsuit.

"After several years, we can move forward," Brooke Dellavedova, a Maurice Blackburn lawyer representing Auskay said. "We're very happy with the decision."

Auskay represents all Australians who paid more than A$20,000 to have goods shipped from the country by air between 2000 and 2007 in the class action.

Qantas said the company is reviewing the decision and may comment later.