Quantas Joins Cargo Shipping Antitrust Settlement

Quantas Airways Ltd. is the latest airline to settle a U.S. antitrust class action lawsuit claiming multiple international airlines conspired to fix prices on cargo shipments.

Paradiso Inc., a California-based retailer of women’s clothing, sued 19 airlines in 2006 on behalf of itself and other importers of goods, claiming the airline carriers illegally conspired to coordinate surcharges – including fuel and security surcharges – and agreed to eliminate or prevent discounting of surcharges that were imposed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the outbreak of the Iraq War in 2003.

The class action lawsuit, entitled In re Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, was later amended to include 47 international airline carriers. So far the only settling defendants are Quantas Airways, American Airlines, Air France, Japan Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, SAS Cargo Group, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KLM), Martinair Holland and AMR Corporation. The other defendants in the Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust class action lawsuit can be found at www.aircargosettlement2.com.

To be a member of the class action lawsuit settlement class, you must have purchased airfreight-shipping services directly from one or more of the defendants or one or more of the settling defendants for shipments to, from or within the United States during the period of January 1, 2000 through September 11, 2006. You will need records of these shipments in order to complete a claim form.

The deadline to submit a claim form for the U.S. Cargo Shipping Services settlement is February 11, 2011.

The amount of money you can receive from the Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust class action will depend on which settlement class you fall under: the Quantas Airlines Settlement, the Air France-KLM Settlement, the Japan Airlines Settlement, the American Airlines Settlement, or the SAS Settlement.

More information about which settlement class you belong to and how to file a valid claim can be found on the Settlement Administrator’s website at www.aircargosettlement2.com.