Comment on the Case:Transpacific Passenger Air Transportation Antitrust (Price Fixing) Litigation Against China Airlines,Etc.
This case involves allegations that 26 airlines including China Airline engaged in a ten year international conspiracy to fix the prices of transpacific air passenger travel,in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act,15 U.S.C.SS 1.On May 9,2011,the District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice air passenger travel claims.In rejecting application of the "import trade" exception,the court explained that plaintiffs failed to take account of the significant difference between cargo,to which their definition of "import" commonly applies,and people.The court also rejected plaintiffs' reliance on the "domestic effects" exception to FTAIA's jurisdictional bar.