We are counsel in a class action brought on behalf of residents of British Columbia who purchased air cargo shipping services from a number of major air cargo carriers from 2000 to 2006. The defendants include many of the major carriers engaged in the air cargo market including carriers operating on European and Asian routes. The class action lawsuits allege that these air cargo carrier defendants participated in an unlawful conspiracy to fix the prices of air cargo shipping services by imposing inflated surcharges for fuel and security, agreeing to prevent discounting on air cargo prices, and agreeing on yields and customer allocations.

The proposed class members in the BC class action include persons who purchased air cargo shipping services directly from the air cargo carrier defendants (this group includes freight forwarders) and persons who purchased services from freight forwarders (this group includes shippers).

We and our co-counsel in Ontario and Quebec have reached a settlement of the Canadian class action lawsuits with Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa Cargo AG, and Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. (these three companies will be referred to collectively as "Lufthansa"). Lufthansa has entered into a settlement agreement which includes, among other things, the payment of USD $5,338,000 by Lufthansa to the Canadian class members, and the provision by Lufthansa of information that will assist in pursuing the class action cases against the other air cargo carrier defendants.

Additional Settlement

November 24, 2010: A further settlement was reached with Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd. (“JAL”). Under the terms of the settlement agreement JAL has agreed to pay CDN $738,000 for the benefit of the settlement class.. JAL has also agreed to cooperate with the Canadian plaintiffs in pursuing the claims against the remaining defendants. BC Court approval of the JAL settlement is set for February 15, 2011.

See Notice of Proposed Settlement with JAL below.

Notice of Proposed Settlement (English)

Notice of Proposed Settlement (French)

August 12, 2011: Further settlements have been reached with Scandinavian Airlines System (“SAS”), Qantas Airways Limited (“Qantas”), Cargolux Airline International (“Cargolux”), and Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Singapore Airlines Cargo PTE Ltd. (collectively “SQ”) (collectively the "Settling Defendants"). Under the terms of the settlement agreements the Settling Defendants have agreed to pay CDN $3,387,000 for the benefit of the settlement class. The Settling Defendants have also agreed to cooperate with the Canadian plaintiffs in pursuing the claims against the remaining defendants. BC Court approval of the settlements is set for October 20, 2011.

See Notice of Proposed Settlements with the Settling Defendants below.

Notice of Proposed Settlement (English)

Notice of Proposed Settlement (French)

March 5, 2012: Further settlements have been reached with Societe Air France and Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatchappij N.V. (collectively “KLM”) and Lan Airlines S.A. and Lan Cargo S.A. (collectively “LAN”) (collectively the "KLM/LAN Defendants"). Under the terms of the settlement agreements KLM/LAN Defendants have agreed to pay CDN $7,200,000 for the benefit of the settlement class. The KLM/LAN Defendants have also agreed to cooperate with the Canadian plaintiffs in pursuing the claims against the remaining defendants. BC Court approval of the settlements is set for July 24 , 2021.

See Notice of Proposed Settlements with the KLM/LAN Defendants below.

Notice of Proposed Settlement (English)
Notice of Proposed Settlement (French)

The Canadian class action lawsuits will continue against the other air cargo carrier defendants who continue to deny liability in the case.

For further information concerning this action, please contact Sharon Wong at 1-800-689-2322 or 604-689-7555, or email swong@cfmlawyers.ca.