Airlines around the world are keeping an anxious eye on an $NZ90 million class action brought by Australian travel agents against six international carriers.

Australian agents are claiming the airlines have deprived them of $90 million worth of commission and breached the Trade Practices Act by claiming fuel surcharges as a separate tax rather than part of the airfare.

If the class action from more than 1,450 agents against Qantas, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines is successful, other international carriers could face claims running into the hundreds of millions of dollars....