Air France-KLM proposes to take a stake in Malaysia Airlines of up to 49 percent, Reuters reports.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government has been looking for a strategic partner for its national airline, which has struggled to recover from two tragedies - the disappearance of MH370 and the downing of MH17.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is interested in a 25 percent stake, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source. Malaysia Airlines signed a deal with JAL last year for flights between Malaysia and Japan, a deal that JAL said could be extended to cover U.S. flights.

Malaysian airline group Airasia Group and Malinde Air, which is the Malaysian arm of Indonesia's Lion Air, have also submitted bids, according to media reports.

Malaysia Airlines and JAL both belong to the Oneworld Alliance while Air France-KLM is part of the Skyteam Alliance.

The Prime Minister said at a press conference on Monday that the government had received five proposals, but that some of them were not worth having.

Malaysia Airlines was taken off the stock exchange by state investment fund Khazanah Nasional, which paid about $345 million for the 30 percent it did not already own. 

Source: Nyhetsbyrån Direkt