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Australia: Travel agency challenges $10M price manipulation charge

By  |  April 22, 2014

Australian travel agency Flight Centre has reportedly appealed a $10.3 million price-fixing fine handed to the company by the nation’s Federal Court last month after competition regulators brought charges against the company.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accused Flight Centre of threatening to not book flights on Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Malaysia Airlines to assure the lowest prices were offered. The case was brought to the Federal Court, which found the agency to have manipulated prices on five instances between 2005 an 2006, according to reports.

Federal Court Judge John Logan ruled there was “no doubt” that Flight Centre manipulated prices for commercial profit, handing the company a $10.3 million fine.

The company has now appealed the sanction handed out due to what it claims are “errors and inappropriate extensions of the law.”

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