EU top court should reject Air France-KLM cartel fine appeal, court adviser says

LATAM Airlines

05/09/2024 11:41

By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Europe's top court should
reject an appeal by Air France KLM  AIRF.PA  and its Dutch unit
KLM, British Airways  ICAG.L , Singapore Airlines  SIAL.SI  and
some of their peers against cartel fines imposed by EU antitrust
regulators in 2017, an adviser to the court said on Thursday.
    The European Commission seven years ago reissued fines
totalling 776 million euros to 11 airlines for taking part in a
cartel to fix air cargo prices, after the Luxembourg-based
General Court scrapped its first decision levied in 2010 due to
a procedural error.
    The carriers took their grievance back to the lower tribunal
which threw out their challenges in 2022, prompting them to
appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
    The court's judges should dismiss their appeals, CJEU
Advocate General Athanasios Rantos said in a non-binding
opinion, as he sided with the EU competition enforcer.
    He said SAS'  SAS.ST  appeal for a cut in its fine should be
referred back to the General Court to be reviewed.
    The CJEU, which usually follows the majority of such
recommendations, will rule in the coming months.
    Air France-KLM's fine was the highest at 182.9 million
euros, followed by KLM at 127.1 million. Lufthansa  LHAG.DE ,
which avoided a fine after it alerted the EU watchdog to the
cartel, had also appealed the decision because it disagreed with
the Commission's legal arguments. 
    The EU watchdog said the cartel fixed air freight services,
fuel and security surcharges from December 1999 to February
2006.
    The other airlines which appealed the EU fines are Air
Canada  AC.TO , Japan Airlines  9201.T , Cathay Pacific Airways
 0293.HK , Latam Airlines Group and its subsidiary Lan Cargo,
and Cargolux  CLUX.UL .
    The cases are C-367/22 P Air Canada v Commission, C-369/22 P
Air France v Commission, C-370/22 P Air France-KLM v Commission,
C-375/22 P LATAM Airlines Group and Lan Cargo v Commission,
C-378/22 P British Airways v Commission, C-379/22 P Singapore
Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo v Commission, C-380/22 P
Deutsche Lufthansa and Others v Commission, C-381/22 P Japan
Airlines v Commission, C-382/22 P Cathay Pacific Airways v
Commission, C-385/22 P Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij v
Commission, C-386/22 P Martinair Holland v Commission, C-401/22
P Cargolux Airlines v Commission and C-403/22 P SAS Cargo Group
and Others v Commission.

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
 ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 585 2866; Reuters
Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))