British Airways has said it is “pleased” with an agreement to pay $89.5m in settlement for a civil awsuit in the US over fixing the price of air cargo.

The deal follows an investigation by the Department of Justice into a breach of anti-trust rules within the air transport industry between 2000 and 2006.

The payment follows an investigation by the DoJ into air cargo price fixing between 2000 and 2006. The British flag carrier earlier pleaded guilty to price collusion and has already paid out almost £300m to the DoJ and the European Commission.

The UK flag-carrier was one of 11 airlines fined a total of €799m by the EC for fixing fuel and security surcharges over six years.

However, these payments to authorities led to civil claims both in the US and the UK.

A spokesman for BA said: “We are pleased that we have reached a settlement over these claims made by cargo customers in the US.”

Another 12 airlines have also reached similar civil settlements in the US, agreeing to pay a total of $367.9m.

There are also outstanding claims against BA in the UK.

Michael Hausfeld of legal firm Hausfeld, which advised customers, told The Telegraph: “BA has now taken an important step toward paying damages for its admitted price-fixing conduct.

“We will continue our efforts to pursue recoveries for the huge number of victims of this cartel both in the US and around the world. It is long overdue that the companies found to have engaged in price-fixing by public enforcement agencies make restitution to all of their victims, everywhere in the world.”

A $66m settlement was also agreed with Lan Airlines, Lan Cargo and Aerolinhas Brasileiras.