KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations regarding anticompetitive activities amongst several cargo carriers, including KLM Cargo, with respect to air cargo shipments to and from the US between May 2001 and February 2006. Under the terms of the plea agreement, KLM has agreed to pay $ 140 million. This amount corresponds to the provision taken by the Company for the financial year 2007/2008.

Peter Hartman, President and Chief Executive Officer of KLM commented: “KLM is committed to compliance with all laws, including U.S. antitrust laws. We have taken thorough, additional steps across the organization to prevent recurrence, as KLM is committed to the highest standards of Corporate Governance.”

As reported previously, DOJ and other competition authorities began investigations of international air cargo activities in 2006. Last month, during the presentation of the annual results, Air France-KLM announced that it had taken a €530 million provision for the Financial Year 2007/2008 on the basis of the status of the cargo investigations by US and EU authorities. KLM wishes to reiterate that it is cooperating with the authorities concerned in the other pending investigations.
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