The battle to acquire Spanish national airline Iberia took another twist today when US buyout group TPG Capital indicated it might consider bidding for the company in the future, despite saying on Monday that it was abandoning a €3.4bn ($5bn) bid.

Philippe Costeletos, TPG's managing director for Europe, told newswire Reuters at a private equity conference in Spain: "We are always open to considering Iberia again. It all depends whether the board and the core shareholders are open to the idea, but where the company will be in six months time is difficult to predict."