The airlines included those with huge financial resources and awide global network, such as Lufthansa, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Thai Airways, reported The Jakarta Post newspaper, quoting an official with the State Minister of State Enterprises.

"There have been no official requests yet from the airline giants. However, several of them have called us to express an interest in forming a strategic alliance with Garuda," said the ministry's secretary Muhammad Said Didu.

"Ideally, we are looking at huge airlines, which could not only help settle Garuda's debts but also expand its fleet to compete with other players. Financial institutions are welcome but they will not be prioritized," he added.

However, Said said the government was still studying the best options for resolving the financial problems in debt-ridden Garuda, which could include seeking strategic investors, injecting fresh funds and selling shares in the stock market.

Despite financial problems faced by the airline, investors are still interested in Garuda because of its 50 percent share of domestic airline market and the country's huge captive market.

"Garuda's captive market is the largest in the region. Aside from carrying state officials, it is the only domestic airline having the privilege to transport some 200,000 national Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia annually," Said said.

Garuda recently announced its failure to pay 50 million U.S. dollars of its floating-rate bonds due in December following cash flow problems it blamed on the Oct. 1 bomb attacks on Bali last year, which badly affected its revenue.

Due to an accumulation of various external problems, the airline is likely to book a loss of more than 70 million dollars last year-- higher than its initial estimation of around 50 million.

In 2004, the company recorded a net loss of 811 billion rupiah(84.75 million U.S. dollars).

Said said the airline was seeking 105 million dollars in bridging loans from the government to repay debt and to strengthen its working capital should there be no strategic partner interested in Garuda. Enditem