On December 24, Cathay Pacific Airways confirmed that it had received a Statement of Objections (SO) from the European Commission (EC) with regard to its air cargo operations.

It is a lengthy and complex document, and only sets out the Commission's preliminary findings resulting from its investigation into to the air cargo sector of the aviation industry. The investigation involves many other airlines.

The company is carefully reviewing the Statement of Objections with our internal and external counsel and will make a timely response to it.

The Statement of Objections relates only to Cathay Pacific's freight operations and does not in any way involve the airline's passenger business.

As the company has made clear in previous statements, Cathay Pacific has cooperated fully with the EC in this matter and will continue to do so.

This is an ongoing confidential legal process. We are therefore unable to provide further detail at this stage.

However, the company would like to emphasise that Cathay Pacific has always supported fair competition, and remains committed to compliance to all applicable competition laws in the 35 countries and territories in which it operates.

Recognising that those requirements have become increasingly complex, and differ from country to country, the company has put in place a comprehensive compliance policy that applies to all personnel at every level of its global operations. It has a dedicated Competition Compliance Policy Office to oversee this policy.