The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched legal action against Garuda yesterday, making it the 10th airline to be prosecuted over an alleged air freight price fixing rort.
Garuda entered into agreements with rivals to fix the price of a fuel and security surcharge from 2001 to 2006, the commission has alleged.
But the airline rejects the claims.
"Garuda Indonesia has never imposed a fuel surcharge on cargo shipped from Australia and indeed, has never charged shippers in Australia any form of fuel surcharge,'' a spokesman said.
The company concedes it did impose a security surcharge on cargo carried from Australia but said it was done "without reference to any other airline''.
It also questioned why the commission referred to alleged agreements made in Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Lawyers were working on jurisdictional claims, the spokesman .
To date, six airlines, including Qantas, have been ordered to pay $41 million in penalties over similar claims, while proceedings against Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates are still before the court.
The commission warned more action was expected over the coming months.
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