WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - NEW Zealand's competition watchdog is to take legal action against 13 airlines and seven individuals for alleged price fixing and long term cartel behaviour in the air freight market, the regulator said on Monday.

The Commerce Commission said the airlines had colluded to raise the price of air freight by imposing fuel surcharges for more than nine years.

It said the alleged price fixing would have caused more harm to New Zealand because of the country's distance from its markets.

'It will have resulted in increased costs for exporters and importers and higher overall prices for many consumer goods,' said Commission chair Paula Rebstock.

The airlines to be prosecuted are: Air New Zealand; British Airways; Cargolux International; Cathay Pacific; Emirates; Garuda International; Japan Airlines ; Korean Airlines; Malaysian Airline Systems; Qantas; Singapore Airlines; Thai Airlines; and United Airlines .

New Zealand's international air cargo market is worth around NZ$400 million (S$326 million), and during the time of the alleged offences airlines would have earned about US$2.9 billion.

The Commission has already prosecuted three airlines for not co-operating with its investigation, with a court decision due in January.

Competition authorities around the world including those in the European Union, United States and Australia have taken action against airlines for price fixing in the air freight market.

Last week a court in Australia ordered Qantas to pay A$20 million (S$19.7 million) for price fixing on cargo charges between 2002 and 2006.