British Airways has been accused of colluding to set prices of fuel surcharges and other levies in the provision of air freight services as part of an alleged air freight cartel.
BA confirmed it received a letter of complaint from European Union regulators, alleging that it was part of the suspected cartel.
The European Commission confirmed that it had sent official letters, known as statements of objection, to a number of air freight firms, concerning "violation of EU rules on restrictive business practices".
Letters were also sent to Germany's Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Scandinavia's SAS.
The airlines have the right to respond, but face fines if found guilty.
The latest developments follow a lengthy investigation on both sides of the Atlantic dating back to early 2006 to discover whether airlines broke competition law by operating a cartel in the air cargo sector.
EU officials stressed that the statement of objection did not reflect the final outcome of the investigation.
The airlines have all committed to co-operate fully with the authorities.
December 26, 2007
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