(AFP) - Japan Airlines, after declaring bankruptcy last month, appeared set on Monday to keep its current tie-up with American Airlines and end talks to defect to the world's biggest carrier Delta.

US giants American and Delta Air Lines have been competing to invest in ailing JAL, which filed for bankruptcy with 26 billion dollars of debt in one of Japan's biggest ever corporate failures.

Both airlines have circled JAL, hoping to benefit from a new US-Japan "open skies" deal to expand their reach in the lucrative Asia-Pacific aviation market. The market last year surpassed North America as the world's largest.

Japanese media had previously said JAL planned to switch to the SkyTeam alliance of Delta and ditch American's Oneworld alliance, which also includes British Airways and Qantas.

But newspapers including the Nikkei business daily, and NHK television, said JAL's new management and the government's Enterprise Turnaround Initiative of Japan believe the switch would be costly and risky.

The embattled carrier feared that a switch to Delta and SkyTeam would confuse its passengers, and may not win anti-trust immunity from US authorities because it would dominate the trans-Pacific market.

A JAL spokesman said: "Nothing is decided on this issue and the reports are based on speculation."

In a statement, American Airlines said that "until JAL officially announces its future alliance plans, it's inappropriate to comment".