Appeal Against Cartel Fines by Airlines

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s top court should reject an appeal by Air France KLM (OTC:AFLYY) and its Dutch unit KLM, British Airways, Singapore Airlines (OTC:SINGY) and others against cartel fines imposed by EU antitrust regulators in 2017, an adviser to the court stated on Thursday.

Seven years ago, the European Commission reissued fines totaling 776 million euros to 11 airlines for participating in a cartel to fix air cargo prices. This followed the Luxembourg-based General Court scrapping its initial decision from 2010 because of a procedural error.

The airlines returned to the lower tribunal, which dismissed their challenges in 2022, prompting an appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

CJEU Advocate General Athanasios Rantos recommended the judges dismiss the appeals, aligning with the EU competition regulator. However, he stated that SAS’s request for a fine reduction should be sent back to the General Court for review.

The CJEU, which typically follows such recommendations, is expected to rule in the coming months. Among the fines, Air France-KLM incurred the highest penalty at 182.9 million euros, followed by KLM at 127.1 million euros. Lufthansa avoided a fine by alerting the EU watchdog about the cartel and also appealed against the Commission’s legal arguments.

The cartel reportedly manipulated air freight services and various surcharges from December 1999 to February 2006. Other airlines challenging the EU fines include Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways (OTC:CPCAY), Latam Airlines Group, Lan Cargo, and Cargolux.

The cases involve:
– C-367/22 P Air Canada v Commission
– C-369/22 P Air France v Commission
– C-370/22 P Air France-KLM v Commission
– C-375/22 P Latam Airlines Group and Lan Cargo v Commission
– C-378/22 P British Airways v Commission
– C-379/22 P Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo v Commission
– C-380/22 P Deutsche Lufthansa and Others v Commission
– C-381/22 P Japan Airlines v Commission
– C-382/22 P Cathay Pacific Airways v Commission
– C-385/22 P KLM v Commission
– C-386/22 P Martinair Holland v Commission
– C-401/22 P Cargolux Airlines v Commission
– C-403/22 P SAS Cargo Group and Others v Commission