British Airways, Europe's third largest airline, is at the centre of an investigation by EU and American authorities into cartel activity over its cargo shipping, following raids on the offices of several European carriers by anti-trust officials.

In a brief regulatory notice issued by the airline to the London Stock Exchange this afternoon, BA reported: "British Airways Plc has today received a request for information from both the European Commission and the United States Department of Justice relating to alleged cartel activity involving British Airways and a number of other airlines and cargo operators.

"British Airways' policy is to conduct its business in full compliance with all the applicable competition laws. British Airways is assisting the European Commission and United States Department of Justice with their investigation."

Cargolux Airlines International, a Luxembourg-based freight carrier, is also among those carriers being investigated by the European Commission. "It's just started today, so we don't have any specifics to give you,'' a company spokesman told Bloomberg.

"The Commission did this because it has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated rules on cartels and restricted business practices," said a spokesman for the Commission.

Describing the investigation as "preliminary", he added: "The fact that we've undertaken them doesn't mean that the companies are necessarily guilty of anti-competitive behaviour and it does not pre-judge the outcome of our investigations."

Under European law, the Commission can fine companies found to be operating a cartel as much as 10 per cent of their annual sales. The largest EU cartel fine was £330 million levied against Hoffmann-LaRoche in 2001 for fixing the price of vitamins.

BA declined to make any further comment on the inquiry.

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