GERMANY's
national railway Deutsche Bahn is seeking US$2.5 billion
in damages from more than a dozen airlines, including Cathay Pacific Airways
and Singapore Airlines involving participation in price fixing cargo cartels.
"A number of air cargo carriers in the United States
entered into settlement agreements both with class action plaintiffs and
individual claimants in order to avoid protracted civil lawsuits," said
the Deutsche Bahn statement.
"Schenker agreed to settlements with some carriers
but opted out of the settlement agreements by the named defendants in
connection with the class action lawsuit," the statement said.
Deutsche Bahn said the damages sought by its logistics
subsidiary Schenker amounted to US$370 million in the United States and US$2.25
billion, in Germany largely targeting Lufthansa as a result of an alleged
price-fixing between 1999 and 2006.
It said the US portion could increase to an estimated
US$1.1 billion if a court tripled the amount that Schenker was seeking in the
US case.
Schenker filed suit in Cologne alleging Singapore
Airlines, Cathay, Lufthansa, BA, Swiss Airlines, Cargolux, SAS, Air Canada,
JAL, LAN and Qantas were involved in a conspiracy to fix fuel and security
surcharges.
Cathay declined comment.
In August, Schenker filed suit against Air France, KLM,
Martinair, Cargolux, Qantas, SAS and All Nippon Airways in the district court
in New York, alleging US antitrust law violations.
All defendants named in Schenker's complaint in the US
pleaded guilty in Department of Justice proceedings, the German company said.
"This action arises from a secret and unlawful
global conspiracy undertaken and engaged in by defendants and numerous
co-conspirator air freight carriers during the period from late 1999 until 2006
and thereafter to fix, raise, maintain, and/or stabilise prices of air freight
shipping services, including the prices for air cargo shipments to, from, and
within the United States," said the plaintiff in the US suit.
Source : HKSG.
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