Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Wednesday he would do "everything possible" to close the sale of loss-making carrier Alitalia, which is in exclusive talks to be bought by Air France-KLM.

The Italian Treasury is selling its 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia, but the deal with Air France had come into question after the collapse last month of Prodi's government -- which launched the carrier's sale in December 2006.

Prodi has a caretaker role until elections are held in mid-April, when opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi could return to power.

"We will certainly do everything possible so that this necessary and indispensable operation, which nobody has had the courage to tackle, is concluded," Prodi told reporters.

Some members of the opposition have said the outgoing government does not have the authority to close such a deal and Prodi's own infrastructure minister has questioned whether doing so is appropriate.

Air France-KLM began exclusive talks with Alitalia last month. However, small Italian carrier Air One, whose bid for Alitalia was rejected, wants to make a fresh offer and has filed a lawsuit to annul Air France's right to exclusive talks.

Berlusconi's Forza Italia party appealed to Prodi to reconsider allowing Air One back into the fray to bid for Alitalia, casting further doubt on the carrier's future if its sale is not concluded before a new government comes to power.

An Italian court reviewing the Air One lawsuit has put any potential deal or new offer on hold until February 20, asking the groups involved to hold off on any actions that change the current state of play until then.

The operator of Milan's Malpensa Airport, SEA, complained on Wednesday that Alitalia had decided to cut more flights than it had said it would.

Alitalia plans to reduce daily flights from Malpensa to 180 from 350 starting at the end of March. However, SEA said in a statement that on a weekly basis flights would fall to 366 -- and not 445 -- from 1,238 at present.

SEA has said it will seek USD$1.86 billion in damages from Alitalia as Malpensa will cease to be its northern hub.