The Air France-KLM group on Saturday denied it had made an offer for ailing airline Alitalia, a day after Italy's industry minister listed it among three bidders. Alitalia, struggling to compete with low-cost European rivals, went into administration last May at the request of its shareholders after staff rejected job and salary cuts as part of a two-billion-euro ($2.4 billion) rescue plan. "Air France-KLM denies making an offer to buy Alitalia," a statement said adding that the group "had not taken part in the process launched by Italian authorities.

" On Friday, Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda said on the La7 television channel that there were three offers: one from German airline giant Lufthansa, another from US private equity group Cerberus, and a joint EasyJet-Air France bid. "The presence of Air France is not sure and I will verify on Monday with the Alitalia administrators," Calenda however said. According to local media reports, Lufthansa wants to lay off 2,000 employees -- almost a quarter of the total on the aviation side -- if its offer for Alitalia is accepted. Alitalia has 11,500 workers in total.