Air France-KLM faces lawsuits from European shippers

AIR FRANCE-KLM faces a fresh EUR335 million (US$420 million) lawsuit, after litigation firm Claims Funding International (CFI) announced plans to file a claim against the carrier on behalf of its European shipper customers.

The claim comes after Air France-KLM admitted its involvement in an air freight price-fixing cartel that has netted major airlines in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.

The airline group agreed to pay $87 million to purchasers of air freight services in exchange for a release of claims in the settlement it recently reached with regulatory authorities in the US, reports London's International Freighting Weekly.

According to comments cited by CFI, the carriers did not offer to compensate indirect purchasers, such as European shippers, that suffered losses as a result of the price-fixing cartel's action between 2000 and 2006.

CFI said: "The airlines have agreed to pay an $87 million settlement in respect of liability under US law for their acknowledged part in an air cargo cartel that breached competition laws around the world, but have refused to offer their European indirect purchaser victims any compensation."

CFI is acting on behalf of a large group of European claimants who say they spent more than EUR3.35 billion on international air freight services during the period the cartel was in operation.

CFI's managing director Peter Koutsoukis said: "It is regrettable that one of Europe's great airlines would decide to pay damages to its US clients, but offer nothing to European-based customers.

"European cartel victims have remained silent for too long, but now they are standing up in large numbers and demanding their right to redress"

Another law firm, Hausfeld & Co, is also filing a claim against Air France-KLM on behalf of other customers.

As a result, Hausfeld & CFI have signed a formal cooperation agreement to coordinate the pursuit of claims within the EU.

The report added that Hausfeld and CFI represent $5-6 billion of air cargo services purchased by shippers while the cartel was in operation.
(Source:www.schednet.com)