The remaining four settlements in the Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, that involves a total of twenty-eight carriers, have been granted final approval by a US court.

The last four to settle in the case include Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International), Air India (AI, Delhi International), Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) and Polar Air Cargo (PO, New York JFK). The cumulative settlements in the case have now exceeded USD1.2 billion.

“We are pleased that the court granted final approval to each and every settlement obtained during this litigation, and we look forward to distributing these funds to those who suffered from this alleged collusion”, Hollis Salzman, the co-chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice group at Robins Kaplan LLP said.

Antitrust Commissions from around the world have pursued a cartel of carriers accused of conspiring to inflate the cost of air freight by manipulating their fuel and security surcharges over the period January 2000 to February 2006.

Apart from the last four approved settlements, other airlines involved in the cartel include: LATAM Cargo Brasil; Air Canada; Air France; Air Mauritius; ANA - All Nippon Airways; American Airlines; Asiana Airlines; British Airways; Cargolux; Cathay Pacific; China Airlines; DAS Air Cargo; El Al Israel Airlines; Emirates; Ethiopian Airlines; EVA Air; JAL - Japan Airlines; Kenya Airways; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines; Korean Air; LATAM Cargo Chile; Lufthansa; Malaysia Airlines; Martinair (Netherlands); NCA - Nippon Cargo Airlines; Qantas; SAS Scandinavian Airlines; Saudi Arabian Airlines; Singapore Airlines; South African Airways; Swiss; Thai Airways International; and Varig.