Canada fines LATAM Airlines C$975,000 for cargo price-fixing

A Canadian court fined LATAM Airlines Group SA C$975,000 ($938,000) after the carrier admitted taking part in an air cargo price-fixing cartel, Canada's Competition Bureau said on Tuesday.

The Chile-based airline's guilty plea related to fuel surcharges it imposed on international air cargo shipments from Canada to South America and elsewhere between March 2003 and February 2006, the bureau said in a statement.

The airline is the ninth to be convicted as part of a Canadian investigation into cargo price-fixing that has resulted in fines of more that C$25 million so far.

"The bureau's investigation into the alleged conduct of other air cargo carriers continues," it said in the statement.

Other carriers that have pleaded guilty to fixing cargo surcharges include Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Air France-KLM SA, Cargolux Airlines International SA , British Airways, Martinair Holland NV , Qantas Airways Ltd and Korean Air Lines Co Ltd.

(Published by Reuters – August 20, 2013)