Australia's Qantas Says It's Been Notified Of EU Fine; Now Examining

Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) on Wednesday confirmed it has received notification from the European Commission of an EUR8.8 million fine for being part of a global cartel involved in fixing air-freight tariffs.

The EC on Tuesday fined 11 airlines a total of EUR799 million.

A spokesman for Qantas said notice of the fine is now being examined, adding the Australian carrier may have more to say on the matter later in the day.

The EC's antitrust body has alleged the airlines colluded on some surcharges between December 1999 and February 2006.

Air France KLM SA (AF.FR) received the biggest fine with EUR340 million, including the three different airlines that are now part of the group --Air France, KLM and Netherlands-based Martinair. British Airways Plc (BAY.LN) was fined EUR104 million.

Other airlines fined include Singapore Airlines Ltd. (C6L.SG), fined EUR74.8 million, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK), with EUR57.1 million and Japan Airlines International Co., fined EUR35.7 million.

The EU also fined Scandinavian airline SAS AB (SAS.SK) EUR70.2 million, LAN Chile (LAN.SN) EUR8.2 million, Luxembourg-based Cargolux EUR79.9 million and Air Canada (AC.B.T) EUR21 million.

The fine for Qantas comes after a difficult week, with the airline forced to ground its fleet of Airbus A380s after an engine explosion forced one of its aircaft to make an emergency landing in Singapore last week.

The A380s problems were quickly followed by an air incident involving a Qantas 747, which was also forced to make an emergency landing at Singapore's Changi Airport.

-by James Glynn, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4685; [e-mail]