Willie Walsh, ceo of BA, met Roberto Colaninno, head of the consortium aiming to rescue Alitalia for talks in Rome yesterday.
The two discussed a possible partnership between a reformed and restructured Alitalia and the UK carrier.
It is one of a series of meetings Mr Colaninno, head of the CAI consortium, is having with airlines interested in working with a relaunched Alitalia.
He has already met with representatives from Air France KLM and Lufthansa which are both prepared to buy a minority stake in the Italian flagship.
Local reports say that Lufthansa, which is backed by politicians and businessmen from Milan, is the favourite.
A spokeswoman for BA confirmed the meeting saying the carrier would consider its position after the CAI restructuring plan has been approved.
But she stressed that BA, which is also in merger talks with Iberia, would not invest in Alitalia.
Under the CAI rescue plan, the 16-strong consortium would buy the profitable parts of Alitalia and merge it with rival Air One.
The unprofitable parts would be liquidated.
The scheme has been backed by the Italian government which owns 49.9% of Alitalia and all the airline's trades unions, despite plans to make 3,000 workers redundant.
A spokesman for the consortium said a second round of talks with the interested airlines would begin next week.
Visit www.ba.com and www.alitalia.com.
Stanley Slaughter
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