THE Competition Commission recently raided the offices of South African Airways, Mango and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa as part of a collusion probe.

THE Competition Commission recently raided the offices of South African Airways, Mango and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa as part of a collusion probe.

The commission said in a statement on Tuesday: "The searches form part of the commission's investigation into collusion in the airlines industry around the Soccer World Cup period, and were prompted by the commission's suspicion that SAA and Mango might have withheld information having a bearing on the investigation."

The commission seized documents and electronic data that will be analysed with other information gathered to determine whether the Competition Act was contravened.

The commission said: "In terms of section 48 of the Competition Act, the commission is authorised to enter and search premises and seize documents that have a bearing on an investigation."

Earlier this year the commission initiated an investigation against SAA, Mango, BA-Comair, 1Time, SA Airlink and SA Express .

This,after the Presidency asked the commission to look into concerns that airlines planned to hike air fares during the soccer tournament.

Mango said: "Mango welcomes such thoroughness in anticipation that all parties under scrutiny will enjoy an equal opportunity to contribute to the investigation.

SAA said it continued to cooperate fully with the commission.

"The South African Airways are eager to ensure that matters are brought to a resolution as soon as possible," SAA said earlier. - Sapa