As the Treasury began its examination of three rival bids for Alitalia, Air France-KLM ruled out any interest in the national flag carrier.
The chief executive of the Franco-Dutch airline, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, said that "Air France will not take part, either directly or indirectly, either today or tomorrow, in the contest for Alitalia".
Air France-KLM was once seen as the most likely final buyer of Alitalia but has been put off by the Italian carrier's poor financial shape.
The Italian government is planning to sell at least 39.9% of its 49.9% stake in loss-making Alitalia and the deadline for the presentation of non-binding bids was last Monday.
The only foreign airline on the shortlist was state-owned Russian carrier Aeroflot, which has teamed up with Italian banking giant Unicredit.
The two other candidates interested are AP Holding led by Carlo Toto, the chairman of Italy's second-biggest airline Air One; and a consortium consisting of two US private equity firms, Matlin Patterson and Texas Pacific Group, and Milan investment bank Mediobanca.
Aeroflot chief Valery Okulov said on Thursday he was confident his airline stood a good chance.
"We think we've made an outstanding offer. We've developed a rich experience in reorganisation and anti-crisis management. What is more, Aeroflot has serious development potential," Okulov told Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
Aeroflot holds a 95% stake in its consortium with Unicredit, Italy's largest bank in terms of market capitalisation.
The Russian airline, the largest East European carrier, closed 2006 with a profit of more than 230 million euros - an increase of 32% over 2005 - and its market value is almost twice that of Alitalia.
The Russian government sold 49% of Aeroflot in 1994. For years the company was dogged by a reputation for poor service and recurring safety issues.
It has recently begun turning itself into a major international carrier, offering daily flights to 82 destinations in 45 countries.
Aeroflot is a member of the Sky Team alliance, which also includes Alitalia and Air France-KLM.
The Treasury has said it will take up to ten weeks to complete examination of the three bids and interview the bidders. It hopes to complete the sale by mid June.
While Alitalia shares initially rose after the bid deadline closed, they have since fallen sharply, losing more than 10% in three days.
On Thursday, the shares fell 1.21% to 0.93 euros compared to Monday's closing price of 1.03 euros.
Italian Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi insisted last week that the three contenders for Alitalia, which has a market capitalisation of 1.38 billion euros, represented a "highly respectable trio".
He said Aeroflot's entry was "certainly a surprise" but stressed he was pleased in the interest from other airlines and not just financial groups.
The Italian government decided to privatise Alitalia at the end of last year.
The group, which has not posted an operating profit since 1998, last week reported a 2006 pre-tax loss of 405 million euros.
Its net debt currently stands at more than 1.1 billion euros.
