European Airlines Price-Fixing Investigation
The European Commission (EC) has raided the offices of several major European airlines as part of an investigation into alleged price-fixing on passenger flights.
The EC said it "carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of a number of international airline passenger carriers".
Although the Commission refused to identify the airlines involved, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM later admitted they had been raided by EC officials. Reuters also reported that the offices of the Italian flag
The European airlines' price-fixing investigation has been launched by the EC following allegations of allegations of collusion between leading international airlines on flights between Europe and Japan.
An EC statement read: "The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated [European] rules on restrictive business practices".
The statement said that the investigation would not be limited to European airlines.
It said: "Any company with operations within the European Union must comply with EU antitrust regulations".
The two major airlines in Japan, All-Nippon Airlines (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), both later told news agencies that they had not been investigated.
The EC added: "Surprise 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 anti-competitive behaviour. Nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself".
Airlines Co-Operating With Price-Fixing Inquiry
The airlines who identified themselves as being the subject of the EC investigations said they were co-operating with the price-fixing inquiry.
Spokespeople for Lufthansa, the German flag-carrier, and Air France-KLM, which is Europe's largest airline group, both said they were "co-operating fully" with the investigations.
Lufthansa added that it was "willingly providing" all information that was requested by the EC's investigators.
Other leading European airlines, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and SAS, have subsequently released statements saying they were not involved in the price-fixing investigations.
The EC's inquiry comes just weeks after British Airways and Virgin agreed to pay $203 million in refunds to passengers after a joint UK Office of Fair Trading and US Department of Justice investigation found that the two airlines had colluded to raise fuel surcharges on on long-haul flights between August 2004 and March 2006. This itself followed a $350 million fine levied agains the airlines last summer for this action.
Source - Airport International's European Correspondent
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