Alitalia and Air France-KLM will open talks in the coming weeks regarding a possible sale of a controlling stake in the Italian airline to the French-Dutch carrier, Air France-KLM chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta confirmed on Wednesday.
"As announced by (Alitalia) CEO Maurizio Prato, we are on a short list together with Germany's Lufthansa and others," Spinetta said during a press conference called to give details on Air France's new joint venture with Delta Airlines of the United States.
"I have always said that should Alitalia wish to talk to us, we will listen very carefully. Discussions have not begun yet, but they will in the coming weeks," he added.
"We are in constant contact with Alitalia, given that we are both members of the SkyTeam alliance. But we have never spoken about becoming its partner," the Air France chief explained.
Although he would not go into detail regarding Air France's possible interest in Alitalia, well-informed sources at the French carrier said a mandate had been given to an Italian bank to find a possible Italian partner.
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 all bidders dropped out because of the conditions imposed by the Treasury.
Prato was then called in to negotiate the direct sale of the Treasury's stake.
Aside from Air France and Lufthansa, Prato's shortlist includes Aeroflot Russian airlines, Italy's Air One airline, the American private equity group Texas Pacific and a consortium led by former Italian Constitutional Court justice Antonio Baldassarre and American private equity group TPG.
Air France and Delta announced on Wednesday that the had entered into a joint agreement to share revenues and costs on all trans-Atlantic routes.
This will officially begin next April on all non-stop flights the two airlines operate between the French airports in Paris and Lyon and the Delta hubs in New York, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.
The agreement will be extended to all trans-Atlantic flights by 2010 and insiders expect it to be extended in the future to KLM.
During Wednesday's press conference, Spinetta said Air France would not directly operate any flights from Italy to the US.
"No matter what the evolution of our relation with Alitalia, we have no intention of operating direct flights to North of South America from Italy," Spinetta said.
