Air France-KLM will pay a fine of 368 million euros, an amount already almost fully provisioned, in a case of price cartel in the air transport of goods, the Franco-Dutch group announced this Monday, March 2.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) confirmed on Thursday the infringements of free competition attributed to a dozen companies, including the German Lufthansa, the British British Airways and the French Air France-KLM, facts that date back around twenty years.
Air France-KLM “takes note” of the court ruling, “confirming the decision of the European Commission of March 17, 2017 against 13 cargo operators, including Air France Group companies, KLM and Martinair, for past practices considered anti-competitive in the air freight transport sector”, said the company in a statement.
“These fines, whose accumulated value reaches 368 million euros, including interest, have been provisioned in the amount of 366 million euros. The total amount will be paid in March 2026,” the group added.
The fine, therefore, will not affect the company’s financial results, which has just published a record net profit for the 2025 fiscal year, worth R$1,750 million.
The cartel, which lasted just over six years, between December 1999 and February 2006, resulted in fines totaling almost 800 million euros for all carriers, imposed in November 2010 by the European Commission.
The process then went through a series of twists and turns in EU justice, forcing the Commission to correct a procedural defect and adopt a new decision in 2017, contested by companies.
On Thursday, the EU Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, confirmed a decision given in 2022 at first instance, which found the Commission competent to sanction this cartel.
Leave a Reply