S7 Airlines, a Russian carrier, is considering making a bid on the Austrian government’s holding in Austrian Airlines, according to Irina Kolesnikova, a spokesperson for S7 Airlines. She wouldn’t say if S7 Airlines has actually put a bid down or not. However, she said that they are interested in gaining more international destinations, and Austrian Airlines is large, having a hub in Vienna.

OeIAG, which is the holding that owns nearly 43 percent of the stake in Austrian Airlines, set an August 24th deadline for possible bidders to send a letter in about their intent to bid on the stake of 157 million euros. A representative of OeIAG didn’t comment any further on the transaction. Aeroflot expressed interest in partaking in the bid at first, however, they announced late in July that they are not going to place a bid.

Lufthansa, the second biggest airline in Europe, confirmed their interest in purchasing part of the holding on Monday. Bettina Rittberger, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa, said on Monday that they have expressed their interest in the transaction. She, however, declined to give any details on how much of the stake that the carrier was thinking of purchasing or as to if the purchase from another airline would hurt the existing ties of both carriers.

The sale is going to take place with the condition that 25 percent of Austrian Airlines be held by an Austrian investor, which came after the collapse of the agreement that they had in May for selling 20 percent of the stake to a Saudi investor.

Visit www.aua.com -or- www.s7.ru/en to learn more.