Mexico plans to sell controlling stakes in its two main airlines, Aeromexico and Mexicana, beginning next month and may make a public share offering, state-owned holding company Cintra said.

Cintra said it would offer a stake of 51 percent to 100 percent in each airline group and, if necessary, make a public share offering for any remaining capital, under a plan approved this week by the board but still to be presented to shareholders.

"This guarantees that the two groups will be controlled by Mexican investors. Any foreign investor must join a consortium with majority national capital" under Mexican law, Cintra said.

The sale would begin in June and the airlines would be sold simultaneously. The process could conclude by the end of this year, Cintra said.

Under the terms, majority stakes would be offered first. Cintra would maintain control of any remaining shares after the sale as a minority shareholder, with the right to veto certain decisions affecting the airlines, the holding company said.

The same investor may bid for both airlines but could only acquire one of them. A second phase would involve a public offer of any remaining shares, Cintra said.

Under the sale plan, Aeromexico will be sold with regional airline Aerolitoral and Mexicana is being packaged with Click, a new low-cost carrier.

Cintra is also selling off other assets including its Aeromexpress cargo and Alas de America training operations. Each of the two main airlines will continue to have stakes in Aeromexpress, and each will hold half of Alas de America.

Terms for the sale of ground services and reservations operations would be announced later, Cintra said.

The airlines under the control of Cintra, majority-owned by the government, account for about 80 percent of Mexican aviation.

After years of losses, Cintra turned a profit in 2004, helped by cost-cutting and Mexico's economic recovery.

Last month it posted a first quarter profit of USD$32 million, compared with a loss in the same period a year earlier.