China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said it has agreed to pay US$40 million to settle a US investigation into its role in an alleged fuel surcharge price fixing case.
Under a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice, CAL will pay the fine in six installments over next five years. The agreement still requires court approval.
The Justice Department issued a grand jury subpoena to the airline in 2006, requesting documents as part of its investigation into alleged fuel-surcharge price fixing in the air cargo business.
CAL has fully cooperated with the Justice Department from the beginning, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange after the stock market closed yesterday.
The airline is among 16 international cargo carriers that have reached plea deals with the US since 2006, including Lufthansa, British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Air France-KLM, Cathay Pacific, Asiana Airlines and Northwest Airlines.
CAL spokesman Hamilton Liu (劉國芊) said that the company had returned to profitability and the fine would not affect its financial performance, adding that CAL will have to pay between US$5 million and US$8 million per year, which was still “reasonable.”
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