Alitalia needs to find a new partner or the loss-making Italian airline will hit a dead end, chairman Maurizio Prato said.

Alitalia has short-listed six potential investors for the Italian state's 49.9 percent stake in the airline, including European rivals Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.

Prato said market forces – not politics – should decide Alitalia's future partner.

Alitalia has forecast a loss of just under US$569 million for 2007, excluding special items.

The first attempt by Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government to sell the state's stake failed spectacularly over the summer when all the potential bidders pulled out.

"The requirement after the failure of the auction is to try at any cost to relaunch Alitalia through the selection of an industrial partner chosen according to market logic and not politics, or it's a dead end," Prato said.

Beyond Air France and Lufthansa, other shortlisted potential investors include smaller Italian airline Air One, Aeroflot and US private equity firm TPG.

The sixth short-listed potential bidder is a consortium advised by legal expert Antonio Baldassarre. Alitalia has said it would start talks with the consortium only after it proved it had the required financial muscle.

On Thursday, small domestic airline Air Italy said it had sent a letter to the consortium expressing its non-binding interest in joining a possible bid.