Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Cases

Airline Price Fixing to United Kingdom

Date Filed: June 26, 2006

Court: U.S. District Court

Location: Seattle

Ticker Symbol: NYSE: BAB

Consumers filed a proposed class-action lawsuit on June 26, 2006 in U.S. District Court claiming that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways have worked together to illegally fix the prices of fuel surcharges charged in the U.S. and across the world, costing air-traveling consumers millions of dollars.

Fuel surcharges are temporary price increases designed to offset specific external cost increases, purportedly the rise in fuel cost. According to the complaint, while oil prices have risen from $40 to approximately $70 a barrel, the defendants have coordinated surcharges as high as 14-fold.

According to the complaint, the defendants all raised the fuel surcharges in lockstep, coordinated through telephone conversations by airline executives.

Earlier this month the United Kingdom of Fair Trade and the United States Department of Justice began investigations of these practices.

If you purchased airline tickets and traveled between the United States and London and could like more information on this suit, click here. You can also read the complaint by clicking here.