NZ travel arm in the clear

An Australian court case that ended with Flight Centre being fined millions for price fixing will not be repeated in New Zealand, authorities here say.

Global travel agency Flight Centre was ordered by Australia’s Federal Court to pay A$12.5 million (NZ$13.19 million) after being found guilty on Wednesday of five breaches of the Trade Practices Act between 2005 and 2009.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) argued that Flight Centre approached Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Emirates attempting to fix the value of tickets so its ‘‘price beat guarantee’’ didn’t reduce its profits.

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission said on Thursday that when the Australian case first emerged it liaised with the ACCC and made initial inquiries that suggested similar conduct hadn’t occurred relating to New Zealand.

Flight Centre Travel Group employs more than 20,000 people in more than 90 countries worldwide.

The case against Flight Centre focused on whether it and the airlines were in competition with each other in any market.

The ACCC won that argument and Flight Centre was initially fined A$11m. However, a series of appeals were then launched, with the matter going to the High Court. It was referred to the Federal Court, where the A$12.5m penalty was imposed.

In the years in which the pricefixing attempts occurred, Flight Centre’s revenue grew from A$900m to A$1.7 billion.

New Zealand is the Flight Centre group’s fifth largest business globally by sales.

Brands in New Zealand operated by Flight Centre include Cruiseabout, Student Flights, Travel Associates, FCM Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveller and Travel Money NZ. –Stuff