Another Air Freight Cartel Case Settled With Multi Million Dollar Settlement by Cargo Airlines 
Australian Class Action Results in Windfall for Shippers
AUSTRALIA – So, the misery continues for several international airfreight companies with the announcement on D Day that the latest class action against airlines had brought an A$38 million windfall for parties prosecuting Qantas, Lufthansa Cargo, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and British Airways, in relation to international air freight services stretching back to January 2000. Lawyers Maurice Blackburn had launched an anti-trust suit against airlines accused of operating a cartel to the detriment of its clients.
The case was initiated in 2007 following the original accusations that the defendants colluded to fix fuel and security surcharges for a seven year period since the turn of the century. A substantial percentage of the settlement agreement has been consumed by legal fees with Blackburn claiming around A$13 million in fees and a further A$5.9 million used for third party disbursements and expenses. Only three previous similar class actions have ever proceeded in Australia, all handled by Maurice Blackburn, and all successful. Class Actions Principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Brooke Dellavedova, commented:
"This case was hard fought and resource intensive. Without the class actions mechanism, there's no way the smaller businesses we acted for could have pursued these claims. The case was funded by Bentham IMF Limited, without litigation funding, it is doubtful whether this case could have proceeded. We are delighted to reach this outcome for the businesses we've been representing, and we know they're also pleased with the result."
Air New Zealand was named on the original writ but this was subsequently dropped with the Melbourne Federal Court awarding the airline NZ$3.2 million costs the airline having been cleared previously by the European Commission in 2010 and by the USA Department of Justice in 2011. The company continues to defend a related class action claim in the United States which, subject to the decision on related Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) proceedings, is the only remaining litigation arising from this matter affecting the New Zealand carrier.
Last year Air NZ agreed to pay NZ$7.5m as part of a settlement with New Zealand's Commerce Commission, on top of the NZ$10m it had already spent defending the claim, wrapping up the local action over the global cartel. New Zealand has also been the scene of the prosecution of the infamous freight forwarding ‘Gardening Club’ coalition.
For the full history of the mass of cartel activity which has plagued cargo carriers and freight forwarders in the past few years simply type cartel into the Guide Search at the head of the page.
http://www.handyshippingguide.com/shipping-news/another-air-freight-cartel-case-settled-with-multi-million-dollar-settlement-by-cargo-airlines_5592?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=logisticsnews
AUSTRALIA – So, the misery continues for several international airfreight companies with the announcement on D Day that the latest class action against airlines had brought an A$38 million windfall for parties prosecuting Qantas, Lufthansa Cargo, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and British Airways, in relation to international air freight services stretching back to January 2000. Lawyers Maurice Blackburn had launched an anti-trust suit against airlines accused of operating a cartel to the detriment of its clients. The case was initiated in 2007 following the original accusations that the defendants colluded to fix fuel and security surcharges for a seven year period since the turn of the century. A substantial percentage of the settlement agreement has been consumed by legal fees with Blackburn claiming around A$13 million in fees and a further A$5.9 million used for third party disbursements and expenses. Only three previous similar class actions have ever proceeded in Australia, all handled by Maurice Blackburn, and all successful. Class Actions Principal at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Brooke Dellavedova, commented:
"This case was hard fought and resource intensive. Without the class actions mechanism, there's no way the smaller businesses we acted for could have pursued these claims. The case was funded by Bentham IMF Limited, without litigation funding, it is doubtful whether this case could have proceeded. We are delighted to reach this outcome for the businesses we've been representing, and we know they're also pleased with the result."
Air New Zealand was named on the original writ but this was subsequently dropped with the Melbourne Federal Court awarding the airline NZ$3.2 million costs the airline having been cleared previously by the European Commission in 2010 and by the USA Department of Justice in 2011. The company continues to defend a related class action claim in the United States which, subject to the decision on related Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) proceedings, is the only remaining litigation arising from this matter affecting the New Zealand carrier.
Last year Air NZ agreed to pay NZ$7.5m as part of a settlement with New Zealand's Commerce Commission, on top of the NZ$10m it had already spent defending the claim, wrapping up the local action over the global cartel. New Zealand has also been the scene of the prosecution of the infamous freight forwarding ‘Gardening Club’ coalition.
For the full history of the mass of cartel activity which has plagued cargo carriers and freight forwarders in the past few years simply type cartel into the Guide Search at the head of the page.
http://www.handyshippingguide.com/shipping-news/another-air-freight-cartel-case-settled-with-multi-million-dollar-settlement-by-cargo-airlines_5592?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=logisticsnews
No comments:
Post a Comment