General Court upholds re-adopted air cargo cartel decision but reduces fines

 

General Court upholds re-adopted air cargo cartel decision but reduces fines

The EU General Court has ruled in 13 appeals brought by air cargo carriers against the European Commission’s re-adopted March 2017 decision in the air freight cartel.

The General Court annulled the Commission's original 2010 cartel decision in December 2015.

In March 2017, the Commission re-adopted the cartel decision in largely identical terms to its original decision while addressing procedural defects found by the General Court.

The Court rejected appeals brought by Martinair, KLM, Cargolux, Air France-KLM, Air France, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines and upheld the penalties that the Commission imposed on these carriers.

However, it annulled the Commission's decision in certain matters relating to the following where it reduced the fines:

• Air Canada and British Airways.  The Commission erred in finding that the airlines participated in the element of the infringement relating to the refusal to pay commission on surcharges.
• Cathay Pacific.  The Commission breached the statute of limitation.

·        Japanese Airlines. The Commission wrongly found Japan Airlines liable in respect of intra-EEA and EU-Switzerland routes.

• Latam Airlines and Lan Cargo. The Commission erred in finding that these carriers participated in the elements of the infringement relating to the security surcharge and the refusal to pay commission on surcharges, amongst other matters.

In relation to SAS Cargo Group the General Court found that the Commission erred in finding an infringement relating to the refusal to pay commission on surcharges and also in relation to routes from Thailand to the EU for part of the period of the infringement.  The court reduced the company’s fine by €4.5 million but then increased it by €4.4 million to take into account turnover on routes within Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

 

Martinair Holland v Commission (T-323/17), SAS Cargo Group and Others v Commission (T-324/17), Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KLM) v Commission (T-325/17), Air Canada v Commission (T-326/17), Cargolux Airlines v Commission (T-334/17), Air France-KLM v Commission (T-337/17), Air France v Commission (T-338/17), Japan Airlines v Commission (T-340/17), British Airways v Commission (T-341/17), Deutsche Lufthansa and Others v Commission (T-342/17), Cathay Pacific Airways v Commission (T-343/17), Latam Airlines Group and Lan Cargo v Commission (T-344/17) and Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo v Commission (T-350/17)