The Franco-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines have expressed interest in acquiring a majority stake in the Italian company ITA Airways. This is backed up in a joint letter addressed to the Ministry of Finance.

It was only recently announced that Lufthansa and MSC interested in joining ITA Airways are. This obviously put the competitor under pressure, because there are fears that access to the Italian market could be lost. If the Kranich Group were awarded the contract, it would also be expected that ITA Airways could leave Skyteam and switch to Star Alliance.

The offer would be a counter-proposal to an expression of interest made by Lufthansa and shipping giant MSC at the end of January, which was later clarified to be a combination of a minority stake by Lufthansa and a majority stake by MSC.

And a third expression of interest came from another international fund, also not named in La Repubblica's report, which the source said had previously invested in "the world's top low-cost carriers."

Air France-KLM, Delta and Virgin Atlantic told Reuters in a statement that they intend to work with the management of the new Alitalia "to deepen our collaboration, including potential associate membership in the airlines' expanded joint venture, which will launch in 2020 will be established”, but declined further comment.