The Flight Centre group has been dealt with the ACCC’s latest decision to launch a further appeal in relation to the long running competition law test case it initiated in 2012.
The ACCC announced this afternoon that it would seek special leave of the High Court to appeal the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia handed down in Flight Centre’s favour on July 31 2015.
In this decision, the court found that the primary judge in the original case erred in finding that “Flight Centre and the airlines competed in a market for distribution nad bookinh services”, ruling in the agency’s favour.
The decision in Flight Centre’s favour was unanimous and the ACCC was ordered to pay legal costs for both the Federal Court case and appeal for Flight Centre.
“We are disappointed that the ACCC has chosen to continue this action and are surprised that the ACCC has not accepted the clear and unanimous judgement of a Full Court that included the highly respected Chief Justice of the Federal Court,” md Graham Turner said.
“We will, of course, oppose the action and continue to vigorously defend our position.
“For more than 30 years the company has sought to deliver cheaper airfares to the travelling public.”
“We are not in the business of attempting to make airfares more expensive and we will continue to seek access to all fares to ensure the millions of customers that we serve are not forced to pay more for their flights.”
