South African Airways (SAA) has paid R55-million in penalties imposed on it by the Competition Tribunal, the Competition Commission said on Tuesday.
SAA made the payment on Friday, the Commission said in a statement.
The penalties included two for R20-million and one for R15-million, concluded under a consent agreement between SAA and the commission, it said.
The first penalty was imposed for price-fixing by SAA and Lufthansa through their bilateral agreements.
The second, paid jointly with SA Express, was for alleged fuel levy charge fixing through a domestic airlines’ agreement.
Both complaints were brought by the commission
The third penalty was for alleged abuse of dominance regarding override commission and trust payment agreements between SAA and travel agents. This complaint was brought by Comair.
The commission said that although Comair and Nationwide airlines opposed the third consent agreement, all three were confirmed by the Competition Tribunal in the second half of 2006.
The payment follows that of a R45-million penalty by SAA on May 31 last year.
This penalty was imposed following a July 28 2005 ruling by the tribunal that SAA had abused its dominance by inducing travel agents not to deal with its competitors. — Sapa