Italian national airline Alitalia is in touch with six possible buyers to negotiate the sale of its stakes, company Chairman Maurizio Prato told the board of the troubled Italian airline on Oct. 8.

A company statement said the potential buyers included Aeroflot, Air France and its Dutch partner KLM, AP Holding, Lufthansa, TPG and the Baldassarre consortium.

Alitalia said it hoped to complete this stage of negotiations "in the shortest possible time."

Italy's second-biggest airline Air One said earlier it was "determined" to buy Alitalia, adding "the negotiations do not depend on us alone, but also on the strategies and interest of the other party."

Germany's Lufthansa said earlier it was not interested in Alitalia under current sale conditions.

The Italian government decided at the end of last year to sell most if not all of the Italian Treasury Ministry's 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia.

An attempt to auction the stake failed this summer after the three remaining bidders, including Air One, dropped out because of the conditions imposed by the Italian Treasury Ministry.