Aer Rianta has confirmed its interest in acquiring a 41.33 per cent stake in Turin Airport, which has been valued at more than £50 million (€63.5 million).

A spokesman at the Italian airport said 18 bodies had made informal expressions of interest in the shareholding, which was advertised yesterday.

Aer Rianta said it would make a formal expression of interest in purchasing the stake next month with Hochtief, the company with which it owns 50 per cent of Dusseldorf Airport in Germany.

A Turin Airport spokesman said preliminary estimations valued the 41.33 per cent stake at 130 billion lire (€67 million).

Aer Rianta's spokeswoman would not comment on the strength of its bid, stating that it was only at an early stage. Two million passengers used the airport last year, down from 2.4 million in 1997. A spokesman said the fall was due to the withdrawal of certain Alitalia services to the larger Malpensa Airport at Milan. The spokesman said a strategic partner was being sought to help develop and defend Turin Airport from the competition of its rival at Milan.

The airport had the potential to handle up to four million passengers a year. It reported a pre-tax profit last year of L6.99 billion on the turnover of L87 billion.

A management company, Sagato, operates the airport, which is controlled by local authorities and business interests in the Turin region. The city of Turin owns 50.76 per cent; Turin Chamber of Commerce holds 24.71 per cent; the Piedmont region and Turin province own 11.24 and 10.15 per cent respectively; while the car maker Fiat holds 2 per cent.

The sale of the 41.33 per cent stake is not expected to be finalised until next autumn. The future of Aer Rianta is the subject of a report by London consultants Warburg Dillon Read which is expected to be delivered to the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, within a fortnight.

Ms O'Rourke is believed to favour the flotation of 2530 per cent of Aer Rianta's stock in early 2002, a year after the planned privatisation of Aer Lingus.