Turkish Airlines (THY) is among the companies that have expressed interest in potentially buying Italy's Alitalia airlines, reports suggested Wednesday.

According to Italian daily Il Messaggero, THY was among 32 companies that articulated interest as a buyer, but the Turkish flag carrier is only interested in acquiring some of Alitalia's assets rather than the entire airline.

Meanwhile, THY Press Counselor Yahya Üstün disputed these claims.

"We are not interested, we have no meetings. The claims are completely unfounded," Üstün said.

The struggling airline kicked off its sale process in May in a bid to save the company. Alitalia was once a symbol of Italy's post-war economic boom, but now is having difficulty competing at home against low-cost carriers and high speed trains.

Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey and was named Airline of the Year by Air Transport News magazine readers in March last year. The airline was also named Europe's Best Airline for the sixth consecutive year in the 2016 Skytrax World Airlines Awards.