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If you purchased international air cargo or air freight services in Europe in the calendar years 2000 to 2006 inclusive then you may be entitled to a refund for the amount overcharged as a consequence of price-fixing by airline companies.

Omni Bridgeway is offering to purchase your claim.

What happened?*

Between 1997 and 2000 international airlines responded to rising prices of aviation fuel by implementing a fuel surcharge on air freight costs. The surcharge bore little or no relationship to the actual impact of fuel costs. For example, the surcharge was calculated solely on the basis of the cargo's weight, regardless of the distance travelled. The US Department of Transport actually refused surcharge approval because the airlines could not provide economic justification. In addition, the airline industry's representative body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), advised the airlines that imposing the surcharge was probably illegal and serious anti-competitive conduct. IATA warned the airlines that using the surcharge would expose them to regulatory prosecution plus damages claims to recover any overcharge.

Despite those warnings, from 2000 to February 2006 the surcharge was implemented by approximately 40 international carriers and maintained by a global conspiracy. The surcharge was altered by some airlines at least 20 times, from 4c/kg up to 72cents/kg.

In February 2006 competition regulators around the world conducted dawn raids, after one of the cartelists blew the whistle. Regulators' prosecutions and private enforcement class actions are now being brought around the world. So far there have been over USD1.6 billion of fines paid by airlines, around USD100million paid by airlines in settlements of class actions, 15 guilty pleas by airlines and their executives and over 2 years jail time sentences for 4 airline executives.

These actions and settlements have all taken place outside Europe. However, on 21 December 2007 the European Commission sent a Statement of Objections to 25 airlines alleging that they fixed the prices of air freight services in violation of the EU rules on restrictive business practices. On November 9, 2010 the European Commission convicted 13 airlines of which 11 were fined 800 million Euros.

The airlines fined by the European Commission are Air Canada, Air France-KLM, Martinair, British Airways, Cargolux, Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN Chile, Qantas, SAS and Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa (and its subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines) received full immunity as it brought the cartel to the Commission’s attention and provided valuable information.

In the attached press releases the European Commission and Joaquín Almunia, the Commissioner for Competition Policy, encourage companies who suffered damages from this price-fixing cartel to seek damages in courts of Member States. They also reiterate that the European Commission's decision is binding proof in national courts. Please download our press release on these subjects here.

* The information is predominantly derived from material disclosed for the purposes of court proceedings outside Europe (including guilty pleas and admissions for the purposes of criminal proceedings), judicial findings based on those admissions, as well as findings publicised by the European Commission.

What is your claim?

Companies who purchased international air cargo or air freight services in Europe during the calendar years 2000 to 2006 inclusive from the airlines, either directly or indirectly (for example through freight forwarders), may be entitled to recover the amount by which the air cargo charges were inflated as a consequence of any price-fixing.

Based on the European Commissions' Decision of November 9, 2010, damage claims and criminal findings throughout the world (including jail sentences to airline executives), as well as provisions which a number of airlines have already made for payments to effected business, we consider claims against the airline companies very strong.

The preliminary estimate of your claim is about 10% of the total amount you have spent on international air cargo or air freight services booked in Europe in the calendar years 2000 to 2006. This estimate is subject to expert assessment.

How can you recover your claim?

Omni Bridgeway is assisting companies to recover from the airlines the losses suffered as a consequence of price-fixing agreements, by paying for and managing the claim and recovery process in exchange for a fee which only needs to be paid out of the proceeds of the recovery of the claim.

This claim and recovery process is likely to involve litigation, which may not be viable for an individual company, given the high costs (millions of Euros), unpredictability, risks of loser pays cost rules, lack of familiarity with claim processes, and defence tactics.

With Omni Bridgeway purchasing their claims, Air Cargo shippers gain access to justice. Because Omni Bridgeway's only remuneration is 30% of any recovery, and the purchase price paid to shippers is the remaining 70%, Omni Bridgeway's motivation to maximise a recovery is wholly aligned with the shippers' interests. Additionally, bringing multiple parties' claims in a single process generates economies of scale which minimise expense and maximise recovery.

Omni Bridgeway is based in The Hague, has offices and staff throughout the world, and has been managing complex multi-national claims for nearly three decades. For more information about our services in collective redress please click here.

What do you need to do?

If you consider participating in Omni Bridgeway's claim process, please read our outline of our recovery proposal. Alternatively, please contact Omni Bridgeway for more information at aircargo@omnibridgeway.com or telephone us on:

• Fabienne Kasteel +31 (0) 70 338 4343
• David Burstyner +31 (0) 70 338 4343