Lufthansa has joined the list of possible bidders for Alitalia as part of an Italian-led consortium.
The German carrier was identified by lawyer Antonio Baldassarre as a member of the bidding consortium he heads. It is one of six bidders for the Italian state airline.
Air France-KLM remains the favourite to take over Alitalia.
Other bidders include Aeroflot of Russia, privately owned Italian carrier Air One and private equity groups.
Alitalia has been awaiting a sale for almost a year. A previous auction collapsed in July when no potential buyer was prepared to meet the Italian government’s conditions.