Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Italy's Senate passed revisions to the country's main bankruptcy law that are designed to clear the way for the sale of unprofitable state-owned airline Alitalia SpA to private investors.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's allies in the Senate passed the measure, which now must be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, as the opposition parties abandoned the assembly. The government has already implemented the changes, through an Aug. 28 decree, and is now getting parliamentary approval for the emergency measure.

Alitalia filed for bankruptcy under the new rules in August, and is currently being administered by the state. A group of private Italian investors led by Roberto Colaninno is seeking to purchase the profitable parts of the airline.

The Colaninno group, known as CAI, today formally approved the plan to take over Alitalia, according to a statement. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA Chief Executive Officer Corrado Passera told reporters in Milan today that CAI has received expressions of interest from possible new investors. Berlusconi, on taking office in May, hired Intesa to design the rescue for the airline.

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest discount airline, said in a statement that it told European authorities that Italy's support for the airline is an ``unlawful bailout.''

Jim Callaghan, Ryanair's director of legal and regulatory affairs, said in the statement that Italy is breaking EU state aid rules by writing off up to 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in debt, guaranteeing the consortium's investment and underwriting huge concessions to the unions in exchange for their agreement to the plans.

The Brussels-based European Commission, which vets whether government aid distorts competition, said it wasn't aware of Ryanair's complaint. The regulator also hasn't received information about Italy's new aid package, Fabio Pirotta, a commission spokesman, told journalists.

-- With reporting by Matthew Newman in Brussels. Editors: Andrew Davis, Kevin Costelloe

To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Scherer in Rome at scherer@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 2, 2008 10:48 EDT