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| Airlines fined $504m in US probe | Airlines fined $504m in US probe |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Five international airlines have agreed to pay fines totalling $504m for conspiring to fix prices for air cargo rates, the US Justice Department says. | Five international airlines have agreed to pay fines totalling $504m for conspiring to fix prices for air cargo rates, the US Justice Department says. |
| The airlines include Air France and KLM, now operated by a single holding company, which is to pay $350m. | The airlines include Air France and KLM, now operated by a single holding company, which is to pay $350m. |
| The other airlines involved are Cathay Pacific, Dutch airline Martinair and Scandinavia's SAS. | The other airlines involved are Cathay Pacific, Dutch airline Martinair and Scandinavia's SAS. |
| The payments come after a wide-ranging inquiry into the air cargo industry by the department's anti-trust division. | The payments come after a wide-ranging inquiry into the air cargo industry by the department's anti-trust division. |
| A statement by the department said the fine imposed on Air France-KLM was the second-highest levied in a criminal anti-trust prosecution to date. | |
| "The airlines each engaged in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the cargo rates charged to customers for international air shipments," the department said. | |
| "The charged conduct affected billions of dollars of consumer and other goods - including produce, clothing, electronics and medicines - shipped by these airlines and their competitors in the air cargo industry." | |
| Fuel surcharges | |
| The statement added that the airlines had agreed to co-operate with the Department of Justice investigation, which was continuing, and that the plea agreements were subject to approval by the US district court where the charges had been filed. | |
| Of the other three airlines involved, Cathay has agreed to pay $60m, Martinair $42m and SAS $52m. | |
| The penalties are the latest in a series of fines arising from the Justice Department's investigation into price-fixing in the air industry. | |
| In August 2007, British Airways was fined $300m after admitting collusion in fixing the price of cargo rates for international air shipments and the rate of passenger fuel surcharges. | |
| Other airlines, including Korean Air Lines, Qantas and Jal, have since suffered similar penalties. |