September 21, 2010 - An Atlanta grand jury returned an indictment today against an executive of Martinair Holland N.V. for participating in a conspiracy to fix and coordinate certain surcharges on air cargo shipments to and from the United States, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

The indictment, returned in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, charges Maria Christina “Meta” Ullings, senior vice president of Cargo Sales and Marketing of Martinair based in Amsterdam with conspiring with others to suppress and eliminate competition.

By fixing and coordinating certain surcharges, including fuel surcharges, charged to customers located in the United States and elsewhere for international air shipments to and from the United States from at least as early as January 2001 until at least February 2006.

The airlines that have pleaded guilty, or have agreed to plead guilty, as a result of the department’s ongoing investigation into the air transportation industry are: British Airways Plc, Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd., Qantas Airways Limited, Japan Airlines International Co. Ltd., Martinair Holland N.V., Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, SAS Cargo Group A/S, Société Air France, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd., LAN Cargo S.A., Aerolinhas Brasileiras S.A., Cargolux Airlines International S.A., Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd., Northwest Airlines LLC, and Asiana Airlines Inc. 

Additionally, on Sept. 2, 2010, Polar Air Cargo LLC was charged in this investigation and is scheduled to enter a guilty plea and be sentenced on Oct. 15, 2010. Airline executives who have pleaded guilty as a result of the investigation are Bruce McCaffrey of Qantas, Keith Packer of British Airways, Franciscus Johannes de Jong of Martinair, and Timothy Pfeil of SAS Cargo. On Aug. 12, 2009, Jan Lillieborg, a citizen and resident of Sweden and former vice president of global sales for SAS Cargo, was indicted for participating in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by allocating customers and coordinating surcharge increases for international air shipments to and from the United States.  

On Aug. 26, 2010, Joo Ahn Kang, former president of Asiana, and Chung Sik Kwak, former vice president of the Americas region of Asiana, both citizens and residents of the Republic of Korea, were indicted for participating in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing passenger airfares for travel between the United States and Korea. Trial dates have yet to be scheduled for these individuals.