Another senior Air New Zealand manager has been roped into Commerce Commission court claims Air New Zealand and other airlines conspired to operate an anti-competitive global air cargo fuel surcharge cartel.
In a High Court decision just released, Justic
Another senior Air New Zealand manager has been roped into Commerce Commission court claims Air New Zealand and other airlines conspired to operate an anti-competitive global air cargo fuel surcharge cartel.
In a High Court decision just released, Justice Judith Potter joined California-based Salvatore Sanfilippo as seventh defendant, along with five other Air NZ employees, in a case expected to get to trial this year.
The commission alleges that from December 1998 to February 2006, Air New Zealand and other airlines took part in a cartel relating to the imposition of fuel charges on air cargo services around the world.
The Commerce Commission alleged anti-competitive behaviour with regard to fuel surcharges by Air NZ and Mr Sanfilippo on routes between the United States and New Zealand, and applied to have him joined as a defendant last July.
It is alleged Mr Sanfilippo, who from March 2001 was Air New Zealand’s cargo sales manager for the Americas, was personally a party to a conspiracy with other employees and implemented what was known as an “overarching fuel surcharge understanding.”
The first time the commission became aware there were collusive arrangements in the US regarding fuel surcharges that might have been applied on routes to New Zealand was in December 2006, after executing a search warrant at Air New Zealand’s Auckland and Auckland airport cargo premises.
The commission claimed the search revealed suspect anti-competitive behaviour by Air New Zealand and Mr Sanfilippo, along with others, on those routes.
Seized documents also indicated contact between Mr Sanfilippo and other airlines regarding another surcharge, referred to as a security surcharge or war risk insurance.
Documents relating to war risk insurance imposed following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, led the commission to suspect anti-competitive behaviour with regard to security surcharges.
Initiated in 2005, the investigation of alleged cartel conduct, which includes Korean Air Lines, Qantas, Lufthansa and Polar Air, is continuing.
