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UPDATE - BA's price-fix fine reaches £270m
LONDON, Aug 1 (WorldACD) - British Airways' fine after it admitted collusion in fixing the prices of fuel surcharges has risen to around £270 million.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has fined the carrier $300 million (£148 million) for colluding on how much extra to charge on passenger and cargo flights, to cover fuel costs.
It followed a decision by the UK's Office of Fair Trading on Wednesday to fine BA £121.5 million after it held illegal talks with rival Virgin Atlantic.
Virgin has been given immunity after it reported the collusion and is not expected to be fined, the OFT said.
"American companies rely on competitive shipping rates to export their goods to foreign markets, American consumers rely on imports for so many consumer and household goods, American families flew these airlines on international destinations. In every instance American businesses and consumers ended up paying more as a result of these crimes," Scott Hammond of the DoJ's antitrust division said.
The DoJ said that the fine to BA - and another given to Korean Airlines - was the second-largest dispensed by the department to date.
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