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EU leading court need to reject Air France-KLM cartel fine appeal, court consultant states

Europe's top court must reject an appeal by Air France KLM and its Dutch unit KLM, British Airways, Singapore Airlines 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 7 years ago reissued fines amounting to 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 very first choice imposed in 2010 due to. a procedural mistake.

The carriers took their complaint 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 stated in a non-binding. opinion, as he sided with the EU competitors enforcer.

He stated SAS' appeal for a cut in its fine should be. referred back to the General Court to be examined.

The CJEU, which normally follows the majority of such. recommendations, will rule in the coming months.

Air France-KLM's fine was the greatest at 182.9 million. euros, followed by KLM at 127.1 million. Lufthansa,. which avoided a fine after it informed the EU watchdog to the. cartel, had also appealed the decision because it disagreed with. the Commission's legal arguments.

The EU watchdog stated the cartel fixed air cargo services,. fuel and security surcharges from December 1999 to February. 2006.

The other airline companies which appealed the EU fines are Air. Canada, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways. , Latam Airlines Group and its subsidiary Lan Freight,. and Cargolux.

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 Freight v Commission,. C-378/ 22 P British Airways v Commission, C-379/ 22 P Singapore. Airline Companies and Singapore Airlines Freight 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.

(source: Reuters)