BA fuel price fixing fine approved

The fine had first been announced on August 1 by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), when the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was fining BA a record £121 million for the fuel surcharge collusion.

In the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, a judge upheld the 300 million dollar fine.

The fine could have been as high as 900 million dollars, but the court accepted the agreement reached between the DoJ and BA which involved the airline cooperating and pleading guilty to infringements of competition law.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: "As I have previously stated, any anti-competitive behaviour is to be condemned at British Airways or at other companies. It will not be tolerated and we remain vigilant in this respect."

The DoJ had said BA had been involved in fixing the prices of passenger and cargo flights.

The OFT said it had found that on at least six occasions between August 2004 and January 2006, BA and Virgin Atlantic Airways had discussed and/or informed each other about proposed fuel surcharged on long-haul flights.

Virgin took the opportunity under the OFT's "leniency programme" to inform on its rival carrier.

Although the court hearing ends the criminal investigation into BA as a company, both the DoJ and the OFT are carrying on investigations into whether individuals within BA should face penalties. Under US law, an individual could be jailed for up to 10 years for price fixing.

Once the OFT investigation was announced in June last year, BA commercial director Martin George and head of communications Iain Burns both went on leave of absence. They resigned last October.