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The European Commission Friday confirmed it had sent anti-trust charges to British Airways PLC (BAY.LN), the American Airlines unit of AMR Corp. (AMR) and Spain's Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA (IBLA.MC) over their oneworld transatlantic alliance.

The commission is concerned the companies' plans to increase cooperation on passenger air transport services on transatlantic routes may restrict competition and raise prices for consumers.

BA and American have twice tried and failed to secure anti-trust immunity to coordinate fares and schedules across the Atlantic as part of their oneworld alliance.

Anti-trust immunity would give the airlines parity with members of the rival Star and SkyTeam airline groupings, which are allowed by regulators to negotiate schedules and prices.

The oneworld airlines argue that they should be allowed to jointly manage schedules, capacity and pricing, as well as share revenues, to deliver improved services to consumers.

British Airways and Iberia in identical statements said they had received the commission's charges, or statement of objections, to their anti-trust application and looked forward to the "opportunity to address and overcome the (European Union's) concerns."

They added, "The E.U.'s thorough review of our plans and supporting evidence was anticipated and is similar to its continuing review of the Star and Skyteam alliances, which already have anti-trust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation."

The three carriers also are awaiting a decision by U.S. regulators, which is expected by the end of October.

"We believe the quickest way to robust competition and more travel choices for consumers is to ensure that all three global airline alliances can compete on an equal footing," BA and Iberia said.

"We merely want the same legal status to enable us to strengthen real competition for the benefit of consumers," the airlines added.

Virgin Atlantic, a fierce rival of BA, warned a tie-up would be bad news for competition and for consumers. Chief Executive Steve Ridgway said the alliance between BA and AA, if given the go-ahead, will allow them "to increase their stranglehold at Heathrow by setting prices and agreeing schedules."

Virgin Atlantic would continue to set out its concerns in order to "demonstrate clearly to the European Commission the irreversible damage to competition this alliance would have on arguably the most important aviation markets in the world," he added.

The commission already has active investigations into similar cooperation deals between four Star Alliance members, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE), Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL), UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) United Airlines and Air Canada (AIDIF), and Skyteam members Air France-KLM (AF.FR) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL).

-By Peppi Kiviniemi, Dow Jones Newswires; +3227411483; peppi.kiviniemi@dowjones.com; Kaveri Niththyananthan, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420 7842 9299; kaveri.niththyananthan@dowjones.com