BA chief executive Rod Eddington has again called on the EC to reject the Alitalia rescue plan if it involves state aid.
He told Reuters: “It is vital that the new Commission applies the state aid rules to all airlines with the same rigour as it did after 9/11.
“The only way our industry will thrive is if the state does not intervene to prop up failing carriers and allows the market to decide.”
It is the second time that Mr Eddington has objected to the Alitalia rescue deal. Last September he wrote to UK transport secretary Alistair Darling saying the planned deal involved an additional subsidy of 3.4bn to the troubled carrier.
Other airlines as well as the European Low Fare Airline Association have also protested that the deal involves state aid.
Under EC rules, a government can give state aid to its national carrier only once and rival airlines say Alitalia has been assisted by the Italian government in the past.
A decision on whether the EC approves the Alitalia deal is not expected until the end of May or early June, Stefaan de Rynk, spokesman for EC transport commissioner Jacques Barrot, said.
Mr de Rynk said the Commission now had all the information it needed to asses the plan and was waiting for the completion of an audit on part of the plan as well as comments from interested parties.
Under the plan, which is aimed at making Alitalia break even by 2006, the business would be divided into two sections, one company AZ Fly would run flight operations and the second, AZ Service would run ground services.
The State would also cut its stake in the airline to under 50% but AZ Service would be controlled by a state-run holding company until it was sold off. It is in this area that BA believes there is a state subsidy.
Alitalia is planning a share issue worth up to 1.2bn to finance the plan.