Qantas fined for fuel-surcharge cartel

AUSTRALIA’S Federal Court has fined Qantas A$20 million (US$13.6 million) for price fixing of fuel surcharges.

This is only the latest of the ongoing legal actions against the fuel-surcharge cartel comprising dozens of airlines between 2002 and early 2006.

“Cartels – particularly those that are engaged in by large businesses with broad application over a period of time – have a significant effect on consumers. They are an unseen fraud on the community that must be uncovered and punished,” said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel.

The fine would have been more but the ACCC said that Qantas had given it a “high-level of cooperation and had made extensive admissions” during the investigation.

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