Flying and paying globally
Filed Under New Zealand
The Commerce Commission specifically the competition authorities will be filing charges against 13 airlines that have operated in New Zealand. These airlines will be charged with price fixing when it comes to cargo charges. Ironically, one of the airlines that will be charged is Air New Zealand – a state owned airline. According to the authorities, the airlines have been jacking up the surcharges in fuel to improve profits. The airlines were charged of practising price manipulation for more than nine years.
A total of 13 airlines have been charged with Air New Zealand including: British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas.
Air New Zealand has flat out denied the claims. Legal counsel of the airline refutes this claim since there is no legal basis of these charges. The legal counsel accused the department of just looking for targets in justifying their existence. The legal counsel also complained that the department who authorised the charges is not sharing information especially on the evidence.
On the other hand, the damage has been done in Air New Zealand. Stocks have plummeted to more than 50% this year. This is considerably low since the expected fall of major stocks because of recession is within the 30% mark.
