Restaurant operator Royal Holdings and trading house Sojitz are among the potential buyers of Japan Airlines' in-flight meal business, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Debt-ridden Japan Airlines will solicit bids for TFK, which handles its in-flight meal business, as early as next week, the daily said without naming sources.

Royal Holdings, which runs the Royal Host restaurant chain, already has a 49 percent stake in TFK, while Sojitz, which serves as a sales agent for Boeing and Bombardier, has expanded its Japan Airlines-related business, the daily said.

Global in-flight meal provider Gate Gourmet of Switzerland and the Lufthansa group are also seen mulling the acquisition, it said.

Japan Airlines is likely to select the buyer by autumn, with the transaction potentially reaching JPY¥10 billion (USD$112.8 million), the daily said.

TFK, catering mainly to Japan Airlines flights leaving Narita airport and some foreign airlines, employs about 2,100 people and generated revenue of about JPY¥28 billion in fiscal 2009, the Nikkei said.