Air France-KLM expects to make a decision on buying Italy's Alitalia or Spain's Iberia shortly, according to chief executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

Spinetta said the company would decide on Alitalia on October 25 during a board meeting.

Spinetta confirmed the airline was on a short list of companies interested in Alitalia, but declined to comment whether Air France-KLM would make a bid for Alitalia alone or with other airlines.

He said KLM might also fly from London's Heathrow airport after the company said Air France would team up with Delta Air Lines to share routes linking US cities and Europe.

He said every European city might be used as a starting point for transatlantic flights.

A so-called Open Skies pact between the United States and the European Union enabled the deal with Delta Air Lines, and Spinetta acknowledged that other airlines, such as British Airways, could compete at airports important to Air France-KLM, like those of Paris and Los Angeles.