A total fine of nearly €790 million placed on British Airways, Air France-KLM and several other airlines was overturned by the General Court of the European Union on the grounds of “inconsistencies” in the original decision.
The original ruling by the European Commission (EC) “describes a single cartel, constituting a single and continuous infringement.
“However, the operative part of the decision refers to either four separate single and continuous infringements or just one single and continuous infringement," the latest judgment reads.
The court concluded that there was a contradiction between the grounds of the decision and its operative part.
Other major airlines for whom the fines were quashed include Singapore Airlines (nearly €75 million), Cathay Pacific (nearly €57 million), Japan Airlines (nearly €36 million) and Air Canada (nearly €21 million).
Qantas Airways was the only airline whose €8.9 million fine still stands as it never contested the original decision, while Lufthansa and its subsidiaries were granted immunity from the fine at the time of the first ruling.
The EC said it was going to “carefully examine the judgments and their implications as well as potential next steps” according to a statement by the Commission.
BA was one of 11 airlines fined in 2010 for allegedly rigging fuel and security surcharges over six years, spanning December 1999 to February 14, after a four-year investigation.
In 2012, BA was issued a £58.5 million fine by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for colluding with rival Virgin Atlantic on fuel surcharges on long-haul flights between August 2004 and January 2006.
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