Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday that no "big" airline wants Alitalia, but he still held out hope a way can be found to save the country's flagship carrier.

"All the big companies were sounded out, and they said they weren't interested," Berlusconi told an interviewer on one of his media empire's TV networks.

"There isn't any possibility that someone will line up" at the last-minute with a bid to buy Alitalia, which recently went into bankruptcy, the premier said. But "I still hope that a solution can be found."