Airlines respond to price-fixing charges

Three of the seven airlines named in a US price-fixing lawsuit by forwarder DB Schenker have filed motions to dismiss the action.
At the Eastern District of New York court on January 16, All Nippon Airways and Cargolux argued that the German-based forwarder had been ‘forum shopping’ – choosing the jurisdiction in which any damages payable were likely to be higher.
The two carriers argued that the case should have been brought in Germany. DB Schenker is German-owned, part of the Deutsche Bahn railway group, with many of the witnesses and documentation located in Europe.
Qantas meanwhile, argued that DB Schenker had filed its claim in June 2014 under the anti-trust Clayton Act. However, this was after the Act’s four-year statute of limitations – the maximum time after an event in which legal proceedings may be initiated – had expired.
In its complaint filed in August 2014, DB Schenker alleged that the three airlines, plus Air France, KLM, Martinair, and SAS – had conspired to fix surcharges for air cargo to, from and within the US.
It is one of a number of actions by the US Department of Justice, the European Commission and the South Korean Fair Trade Commission that have taken place since 2006, resulting in airlines paying billions of dollars in fines. 
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