South Korea-based Asiana Airlines Inc has agreed to pay $55 million to settle allegations in a U.S. class action that it conspired with other airlines to fix rates for shipping air cargo, according to court papers filed on Tuesday.
The proposed settlement, which requires the approval of a judge, was filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
The plaintiffs in the class action are primarily freight-forwarders, companies that manage cargo delivery. They said they paid inflated prices because of the alleged conspiracy.
In all, 22 defendants have settled in the antitrust litigation, which began in 2006. They have agreed to pay $903 million, according to Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer, one of the law firms working for the freight-forwarders.
An attorney for Asiana in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Six defendants in the class action have not agreed to settle: AirChina Ltd, Air India, Air New Zealand Ltd, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc, Eva Airways Corp and Nippon Cargo Airlines Ltd. No trial date has been set.
The case is: In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 1:06-md-1775.
