The Competition Tribunal partially accepted a lawsuit by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office against Lan Airlines S.A. and Lan Cargo S.A.. The Tribunal stated that the defendants infringed free competition by abusive exploitation of their dominant position in the market of international air cargo transportation with destination Punta Arenas, spilling over the anticompetitive effects to the related market of customs storage of air cargo in that city.
Both defendants had to pay a fine. The Tribunal also ordered the defendants to restructure their tariffs for cargo transportation from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo airport to the Empresa Portuaria Austral warehouse (which also serves as a customs storage facility), and their tariffs for use of forklifts, as well as ordering them to comply with several measures that tend to favor free competition in all the cities in which they operate.
The Tribunal proposed that the President of the Republic, through the Ministry of Finance, instructs the National Customs Service so that it modifies the necessary regulations, in order to favor free competition between customs storage facilities inside and outside airports in the country.