Cathay Pacific Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been accused of price-fixing on flights between London and Hong Kong.

The Office of Fair Trading today said it had issued a "statement of objections" to the alleged conduct of the two airlines regarding the route, although it warned that, at this stage, "it should not be assumed that the parties involved have broken the law".

Virgin said it intended to "robustly defend itself" against the allegations.

The OFT alleged that employees at the two companies exchanged commercially sensitive information between 2002 and 2006, which allowed the companies to coordinate their respective pricing strategies