European Commission gets Alitalia reply

The European Commission on Tuesday said it had received a response from the Italian government outlining why a 300-million-euro loan for state airline Alitalia should not be considered state aid.

In a statement, the EC said it ''would not comment on the contents of the Italian reply nor on the state of the investigation procedure until it is completed''.

The EC said it would shortly publish in the European Union's Official Gazette the reasons why it opened a probe into the loan on June 11.

After publication all parties concerned including Alitalia's competitors will have a month to send their comments to the EC - likely to be extended because of the summer holidays.