Air France KLM confirmed it would bid for a stake in Austrian Airlines, while repeating it was interested in taking a minority stake in a relaunched version of Alitalia.
"We have said we are interested and we will respond to the tender according to deadline and conditions set by the Austrian government's adviser," Air France-KLM Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told reporters on Tuesday.
"So we'll make an offer. But we don't yet know precisely what the conditions are."
Austria's government holding agency OeIAG last month started the process of selling a stake in the airline, which has also attracted interest from carriers including Germany's Lufthansa and Russia's S7.
Interested bidders must present their strategies for Austrian to OeIAG and Merrill Lynch this Friday and a shortlist will then be drawn up.
Austrian and Alitalia are part of increasing European merger moves driven by high oil prices which have made many airlines unprofitable.
Air France-KLM pulled out of talks to buy Alitalia earlier this year when talks with Italian unions collapsed. But under the latest rescue plan, Italian investor group CAI plans to buy Alitalia's flight operations while the rest, including its ground service operations and cargo unit, are liquidated or sold.
"This group of investors contacted us saying their proposal could only succeed if they had the support of a very large European operator," Spinetta told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony to launch Paris airport terminal 2G.
"They approached us, and maybe others, and we replied by letter that we would be ready to take a very minority-level stake in this new Italian company if we were sure it would be profitable. We are ready to participate, maybe not immediately but over the medium term."
