Vienna  - Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and the Russian carrier S7 will likely bid for the takeover of Austrian Airlines, several Austrian media reported Monday.

Austria's state holding company OeIAG is seeking to sell its 42.75- per-cent stake in the Austrian flag carrier by late October.

Sources close to the OeIAG's governing board told Austrian news agency APA that British Airways was no longer on the shortlist that is to be formalized on Tuesday.

However, another source in the airline industry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that there were four bidders left.

Lufthansa is widely seen as having the best chances for buying Austrian Airlines, as both companies are members of the Star Alliance group and share the same language.

On Monday, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines announced the big German airline would take over the Belgian carrier. Lufthansa is also viewed as a front-runner for taking over the Scandinavian airline SAS.

Reeling from high fuel prices, Austrian Airlines is expected to post losses of 70 million euros (99.7 million dollars) this year. (dpa)