British Airways / Virgin Atlantic cartel

Peters & Peters acted for Iain Burns and Alan Burnett, two of the four senior British Airways executives charged with fixing the price of the fuel surcharge element of transatlantic airline tickets. Having been the first to be instructed in this case and steering an extremely challenging course through a highly-charged four-year investigation, we were instrumental in bringing about the widely reported collapse of this case on 10 May 2010, at Southwark Crown Court. This was the first trial in the UK for such an offence and was the highest profile fraud case to come to court in recent years. The high profile collapse of the case resulted in the coalition government proposing that the OFT lose its criminal prosecutorial powers. The case continues, with negotiations ongoing with the US Department of Justice.

Head of Department Michael O’Kane and Partner Jasvinder Nakhwal act.