There is a Christmas deadline attached to the Alitalia sale

Three bidders, including Air France KLM, have made offers for the airline, which is 49.9% owned by the government.

The Franco-Dutch airline will face competition from Italian airline Air One and a consortium led by Italian lawyer Antonio Baldassarre.

A government meeting to pick a buyer ended on Wednesday with no outcome and Alitalia has now delayed its choice.

There had been high expectation that the airline would make its intentions known on Thursday.

'Comatose'

High costs, tough competition and frequent strikes have plunged Alitalia into a precarious financial position.

Alitalia's board hopes to conclude a deal before the Christmas deadline set by the government.

Previous efforts to sell off the airline have foundered on concerns about its financial position and conditions attached to the sale.

Experts have previously said investors had been put off in the past by a lack of clarity about the firm's finances and obligations regarding future service levels.

The airline has cut back on services in recent months and its chairman Maurizio Prato recently described the firm as "comatose".

New interest

Air One is run by Italian businessman Carlo Toto and supported by Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo.

Its approach is preferred by Alitalia's unions, regional politicians and business leaders.

But analysts say a better bet for long-term restructuring of Alitalia is Air France KLM, the world's largest airline group by revenue.

On Thursday, Alitalia also said a new group that includes Singapore Airlines had expressed interest in buying a controlling stake in the airline.

But Alitalia also pointed out that earlier this year, in September, Singapore Airlines had said it did not have a strategic interest in investing in Alitalia.