Air France said Friday it had not been informed of any shortlist of potential buyers for Italy's struggling airline Alitalia.
"Air France is not aware of the existence of a list said to include five potential buyers," a spokesman for the French airline said.
Last month sources close to the government's Alitalia sale told ANSA a shortlist of possible buyers would be ready at the start of October and a final decision would be made by Christmas.
Air France and its Dutch partner KLM, which together form Europe's biggest airline, were believed to be prime candidates for that shortlist along with Italy's second-biggest airline Air One.
Air One said Friday it was "determined" to buy Alitalia but added: "The negotiations do not depend on us alone, but also on the strategies and interest of the other party".
Another touted member of the shortlist, Germany's Lufthansa, said Friday it was not interested in Alitalia under current sale conditions.
British Airways and the private equity group Texas Pacific were the other potential shortlist candidates, sector sources told ANSA on September 18.
There has been no word from them.
The Italian government decided at the end of last year to sell most if not all of the Treasury's 49.9% stake in Alitalia.
An attempt to auction the stake failed this summer after the three remaining bidders, including Air One, dropped out because of the conditions imposed by the Treasury.
