British Airways is monitoring the privatisation of Alitalia, which is struggling to find a buyer, the head of one of the Italian airline's major unions said on Monday.

"There is a display of attention, I wouldn't say interest, on the part of British Airways," said Claudio Genovesi, the secretary-general of the Fit-Cisl union, ahead of a meeting with Alitalia's new chairman.

"We never comment on rumour or speculation," a BA spokesman said, when asked about the matter.

Alitalia remains in the hunt for a buyer for the Italian treasury's 49.9 per cent stake in the loss-making Italian flag carrier, after an auction for it collapsed in July.

British Airways was not among the bidders who expressed interest in the auction, in which Russia's Aeroflot, smaller Italian carrier Air One and private equity groups TPG and MatlinPatterson were shortlisted as final bidders before all pulled out. - ( Reuters )