Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary has said that should Ryanair decide to bid for Alitalia, it would go after a majority stake in the loss-making Italian airline.
Alitalia filed in May to be put under special administration for the second time in less than a decade, starting a process that will lead to the airline being overhauled, sold off or wound up.
"In case of an acquisition, we would be interested in a majority stake, not a minority one," Michael O'Leary told journalists during a press conference in Rome.
"We are not interested in a 49% stake," he added.
The airline has submitted an expression of interest to the administrators trying to sell Alitalia, but so far has always stressed it was interested in cooperating with the business rather than buying it.
