DELTA Airlines and Air France-KLM yesterday challenged the MSC and Lufthansa bid for Alitalia's successor ITA Airways.

Backed by an international fund, the US, French and Dutch carriers showed their interest in acquiring a majority stake in the Italian company, Italian government sources told newspaper La Repubblica.

The joint partnership is expected to directly challenge the MSC-Lufthansa bid which, if accepted, would see the shipping giant acquire a majority stake in the company, leaving the rest to minority shareholders like Lufthansa.

German carrier's boss Carsten Spohr last week told investors not to worry about the takeover, stating that owning a majority stake in the Italian flag carrier was "far away from his intentions", City A.M. reported.

"We know what we are doing in Italy. I hear my shareholders - don't worry, we know there is a legacy," Spohr said about Alitalia's decades of losses which prompted the relaunch.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper