Australia is in the midst of its first-ever class action lawsuit against seven airlines for allegedly price-fixing surcharges on international air cargo.

Qantas, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, JAL and British Airways were served with an A$200 million (US$155 million) lawsuit, a class action was filed January 11 with the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne by Maurice Blackburn Cashman solicitors, according to The Associated Press.

The AP report said that if found liable, each airline's payout would be based on individual market share.

Qantas commands 22 per cent of the Australian airfreight market, followed by Singapore Airlines with a 16 per cent share, Cathay Pacific with eight per cent, Air New Zealand with 6.5 per cent while British Airways and JAL have three per cent each. They collectively hold 60 per cent of the market.

The alleged price-fixing cartel whose illegal activities are said to date back to 2000, according to papers filed with the Federal Court. The alleged violations involve the imposition of fuel and security surcharges in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. The seven airlines are further charged with implementing Iraq War-risk surcharges, which led to higher insurance costs.

The AP report said the airlines are accused of inflating airfreight surcharges to the point that they did not accurately reflect actual costs, and were introduced in an agreement between the airlines to raise prices.

Kim Parker, principal of the law firm bringing the suit, said there could be thousands of plaintiffs, adding that businesses which paid more than A$20,000 on airfreight charges since 2000 were included in the case.