Deutsche Bahn drops price-fixing claims against three air cargo carriers

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn said its logistics subsidiary has dropped claims against three cargo airlines in a US$2.5 billion global lawsuit, but other defendants including Cathay Pacific remains on the hook.

Deutsche Bahn, whose logistics subsidiary Schenker is seeking damages from more than a dozen airlines for price-fixing, said Schenker has dropped claims against Nippon Cargo, SAS and Cargolux in the lawsuit brought in the Eastern District of New York. “Schenker will continue to pursue its claims against other air carriers and seek damages relating to the air carriers’ anticompetitive conduct alleged in the US cartel lawsuit, based on the legal principle of joint and several liability,” it said in a statement.

Schenker is seeking damages amounting to US$370 million in the United States and US$2.25 billion in Germany for what it said was a global price-fixing cartel between 1999 and 2006. It filed complaints against Air France, KLM, Martinair, Cargolux, Qantas, SAS and All Nippon Airways in New York in August 2014, alleging that they violated US antitrust laws. 

It filed the German lawsuit in December 2013 in Cologne, alleging that airlines including Cathay, Deutsche Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Cargolux, SAS, Air Canada, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines and Qantas Airways were involved in a conspiracy to fix fuel and security surcharges.

Schenker is the latest international freight forwarder to pursue civil litigation in an effort to recover damages totalling US$3.7 billion globally from air cargo carriers. A number of carriers in the US entered into settlement agreements with class-action plaintiffs and individual claimants in order to avoid protracted civil lawsuits. Deutsche Bahn did not say in the statement whether successful settlement was the reason for dropping claims against the three airlines.