Alitalia's board will weigh bids by Air One and Air France-KLM for the troubled airline on Tuesday but it may delay choosing a partner as the government appears divided ahead of key talks on Thursday.

Italy's prime minister will meet the French president on Thursday. Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi said on Tuesday he believed the rival bids for Alitalia needed more in-depth study.

"I feel the need to study them better and more in depth," Bianchi told reporters on the sidelines of a conference hours before Alitalia's board was due to meet to discuss the bids.

Bianchi also said he had called a meeting with unions to discuss the Alitalia situation for Wednesday.

Domestic challenger Air One, smaller than state-controlled Alitalia but backed by Italy's No. 1 retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo, has offered 1 euro cent per Alitalia share and total investments of EUR5.3 billion euros by 2012.

Air France-KLM, the world's largest airline by revenues, has bid 35 euro cents per Alitalia share in a share-swap offer and offered to buy all Alitalia's convertible bonds.

But financial details are secondary to a decision which must win over combative unions and national interests that want to keep the loss-making carrier firmly in Italian hands.

"Under Air France's plan, Alitalia would disappear," Intesa Sanpaolo Chief Executive Officer Corrado Passera told Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Tuesday.

"The alliance with Air One would, on the other hand, generate a new carrier, whose main mission would be to make "Italy fly"," he added.

Regional interests are also at stake as Air France's plan would keep Rome's Fiumicino Airport as its Italian hub while rival Milan's Malpensa would just provide local connections.

Alitalia's board was expected to meet at 1500 GMT. Alitalia unions would meet beforehand at 1430 GMT and they are threatening massive strikes over the Christmas holiday period should they not like the choice of the partner.

"I don't know what the board will do," Alitalia Chairman Maurizio Prato was quoted by Italian media as saying. "Decisions are taken on a day-to-day basis."

Italian media say Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa both favor Air France's offer, while Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi are seen backing an "Italian solution".

Shares in Alitalia were zig-zagging on Tuesday, reflecting uncertainty over a possible decision for Alitalia.