Air France (AF, Paris CDG) and partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) have said they are open to the possibility of merging with Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) though any tentative tie up would depend on strict conditions being met before hand. "Our conditions for helping Alitalia are very strict. If the conditions are met, I am ready to go ahead," Air France-KLM chief executive Alexandre de Juniac told French daily Les Echos on Tuesday without expanding on what those conditions were. Sources said last week that Air France had voted against a proposed capital increase at Alitalia of at least EUR100 million (USD135 million) to help shore up the ailing carrier's coffers on the basis that "the conditions have no chance of being met." However, there are also disagreements over financial commitments and a possible business strategy for the Italian group should a merger go ahead, Reuters quotes sources familiar with the matter. Among them are worries that any Air France-KLM investment would clash with Italy's ambition to make Rome Fiumicino an international hub, and instead turn Alitalia into a regional player and trigger job cuts. Mr de Juniac retorted: "Air France-KLM-Alitalia, if one day we are united, could become a very great European brand. In such a scenario, we could supply (Alitalia's) long-haul flights with passengers from Air France and KLM and they could do the same for us," he said. The Alitalia board was informed last week of possible interest from China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates but nothing as yet concrete has been confirmed.