Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) has agreed to plead guilty in the United States to two charges of price fixing, the Department of Justice said yesterday. ANA has agreed to pay a $73 million fine following an industry wide investigation into cargo rate fixing that has now trapped 19 airlines. ANA has been accused of holding meetings and discussions to fix cargo rates and some unpublished passenger fares between 2000 and 2006.
The US Justice Department has so far collected $1.6 billion in fines relating to the probe from airlines, which include Northwest Airlines, British Airways, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Qantas Airways and SAS Cargo Airlines. Four executives have been sentenced to prison and charges are pending against 10 more. ANA agreed to help the US authorities with further investigations as part of the plea deal, which now requires court approval.