Eleven potential buyers applied to the Italian government to acquire ailing airline Alitalia, more than the Italian finance ministry expected. But long-time partner Air France-KLM was not among the bidders.

Yet despite the bidding interest, chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli is expected to resign this month. Sources close to the government speculate that the resignation of chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli will come during the shareholder meeting to renew the board on February 22, 2007. He may step-down on a dispute regarding severance pay.

The Italian government want to privatise Europe's fifth largest airline. Alitalia loses over US$1.29 million per day and hasn't posted an operating profit since 1998. Most of the bidding interest came from buy-out funds, hoping to resell their Alitalia stake after a recovery or a sharp restructuring.