The Competition Commission is investigating collusion among local airlines, it said on Thursday.

"The Competition Commission has initiated an investigation against major airlines BA/Comair, South African Airways, 1Time, SA Airlink, Mango and SA Express for allegedly colluding on prices and pricing strategies to be adopted during the Fifa 2010 World Cup tournament," it said in a statement.

The commission said the investigation followed a leniency application by South Africa Airways (SAA) in December in which it undertook to fully co-operate with the commission, in exchange for leniency from prosecution under the Competition Act.

"In November 2009, the Office of the President also requested the commission to look into concerns that airlines planned to escalate their airfares during the World Cup."

Richard Holmes, iafrica.com Travel Editor, in November exclusively broke the news in his piece Stadium-sized airfares?.

The commission said in its application, SAA provided e-mail correspondence between the airlines in which there were indications they might adjust airfares ahead of the World Cup.

"In particular, the e-mail suggests that since there is no indication as to which flights will represent peak demand flights, airlines have the option to either not provide any inventory for sale until such time, or price all inventory at peak time rates until such time as they have greater certainty."

The e-mail correspondence also suggested airfares would have to be raised to cover various anticipated additional costs.

"The soccer World Cup tournament provides South African business with a good opportunity to showcase our international competitiveness, an opportunity which could have positive and lasting benefits," Commissioner Shan Ramburuth said.

"But it is also possible that some firms might want to exploit the situation by engaging in anti-competitive conduct."

He said the commission was obliged to investigate all legitimate complaints.

"The commission will investigate the allegations made by SAA and circumstances surrounding the allegations to determine if the airlines have colluded to increase prices, or adopt similar pricing strategies ahead of the World Cup."

If it was found they had, the commission would refer the case to the Competition Tribunal for a hearing and request an appropriate penalty.

Meanwhile, SAA confirmed in a statement it was in discussion with the commission about an application for leniency.

"We have submitted a leniency application in December last year to the Competition Commission after having received correspondence related to pricing during the World Cup period," spokesperson Vimla Maistry said in a statement.

"SAA undertook to fully co-operate with the Commission in exchange for leniency from prosecution under the Competition Act."

SA Express insisted it was "not party" to the alleged collusion.

"The airline has been involved in discussions, under the auspices of the department of transport, regarding capacity requirements for 2010," said airline spokesperson Dileseng Koetle in a statement.

"This was to simply ensure adequate fleet planning."