By Natalia Drozdiak and Matthias Goldschmidt
FRANKFURT--The cargo unit of German state railway Deutsche Bahn
AG said Monday that other companies are joining its suit in Germany
which claims damages from 13 airlines for colluding to inflate
airfreight fees.
With the additional companies, the combined suit filed at the
regional court in Cologne now totals 2 billion euros ($2.26
billion) and about EUR900 million in interest payments, a spokesman
for the company said. While auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH
confirmed it was taking part, Deutsche Bahn declined to name the
other companies joining the suit.
According to a report by the German weekly magazine
Wirtschaftswoche, Swiss logistics companies Kuehne + Nagel AG
(KNIN.VX) and Panalpina Welttransport AG (PWTN.EB) are also joining
the lawsuit.
Panalpina declined to comment and Kuehne + Nagel wasn't
immediately reached.
Deutsche Bahn's own claims in Germany still stand at around
EUR1.2 billion and EUR560 million in interest payments. Their
claims in the U.S. could reach up to $1.1 billion.
The lawsuit, which The Wall Street Journal first reported last
year, targets 13 airlines including Air France-KLM SA (AF.FR),
British Airways (IAG.LN), Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) and
Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU).
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com and
Matthias Goldschmidt at Matthias.Goldschmidt@wsj.com