• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

JAL, Cathay, SAS Confirm U.S., EU Probe

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 February 2006, 06:00 CST

TOKYO - Japan Airlines Corp., Cathay Pacific Airways and Scandinavian airline SAS confirmed Wednesday their offices had been searched by U.S. and European authorities as part of a global investigation into alleged price fixing in the air cargo business.

On Tuesday, several European airlines, including British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Luxembourg's Cargolux Airlines all said they were being investigated as part of the probe.

JAL offices at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York were searched Tuesday by officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, while the company's cargo operations at the international airport in Frankfurt, Germany, were searched by European antitrust authorities, said Steve Pearlman, a JAL spokesman in Tokyo.

"We are fully cooperating with the investigation," he said.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's leading carrier, also said authorities had made "unannounced visits" at offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Frankfurt a day earlier, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Leung.

They demanded some documents on the airline's cargo operations and Cathay Pacific was cooperating, Leung said.

"Cathay Pacific confirms that the airline is in strict compliance with the applicable legislation in all of its operating markets," the airline said in a statement.

SAS also confirmed an unannounced inspection was carried out Tuesday by European Commission investigators at its air-cargo unit SAS Cargo in Copenhagen.

The European Commission said the inspections are a preliminary step in investigations into suspected cartels.

"The fact that the European Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anticompetitive behavior nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself," it said in a statement Tuesday.

It provided no further detail of the alleged price-fixing activity and put no time frame on the completion of its investigation.

Lan Chile and Polar Air were also under suspicion.

In South Korea, the nation's antitrust watchdog said Wednesday it had inspected local and foreign airlines suspected of colluding to illegally fix international air cargo prices.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said in a brief statement that the inspections took place Tuesday in cooperation with similar actions by authorities in the United States and Europe. The commission did not mention what airlines were inspected.

In Seoul, Korean Air Co. spokesman Cho Hyong-chol confirmed that officials visited the airline, but said he had no details. Korean Air is the world's largest cargo airline.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category