NEW YORK: In a reprise of an earlier case, Bloomberg reports Schenker AG has filed an anti-trust lawsuit in the U.S. Eastern District Court of New York against Air France. Read more

Represented in this action by the law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman, Schenker AG is also suing All Nippon Airways, Cargolux Airlines International, KLM, Martinair Holland, Nippon Cargo Airlines, SAS Cargo Group and Qantas.

According to U.S. law firm Labaton Sucharow, in 2006 U.S. and European antitrust authorities raided numerous major airlines, uncovering a global price-fixing scheme through which the airlines were alleged to have unlawfully inflated cargo shipping fees over a period of more than five years.

Labaton Sucharow subsequently filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of some plaintiffs in the case: "With more than 50 defendants acting across six continents, the scope of the anti-competitive conduct was vast. In fact, to date, some 15 airlines have pled guilty to U.S. criminal charges and others have been accepted into government leniency programs. In addition, parallel criminal proceedings are ongoing in at least eight other jurisdictions across the globe," it notes.

As of May 8, 2014 the law firm says the same court where Schenker AG has made its filing granted final or preliminary approval of US$840 million in "partial settlements with certain defendants" including Singapore Airlines, China Air, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air and Korean Air.