British Airways was hit with an almost £270m fine today as it reached settlements with US and UK authorities for price fixing on fuel surcharges.
Rival Virgin Atlantic Airways blew the whistle on BA last year after individuals at the two carriers discussed proposed changes to fuel surcharges for long flights.
Earlier the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) fined BA £121.5m which is the biggest-ever penalty the watchdog has imposed for infringements of competition law
The US Department of Justice then fined BA $300m (£148m) as part of a wider investigation that also resulted in a fine for Korean Air Lines and notice that Virgin and Germany's Lufthansa would have to pay compensation to customers.
The fines, already the biggest in BA's history, could have been higher if the airline had not admitted wrongdoing.
Two senior BA executives quit last October after being linked to the investigation and in May BA set aside £350m as a provision for possible fines.
Analysts said the UK fine was in line with expectations, given the provision already taken, and noted BA could have fared far worse.
Fuel surcharges soared from £5 to £60 per ticket on typical BA or Virgin long return flights during the period, but BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh defended the rises, which came as crude oil prices surged.
'I want to reassure our passengers that they were not overcharged,' he said.
