Dassault Aviation not in favour of Thales-Alstom rail tie-up - CEO

PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - The head of Dassault Aviation , the biggest shareholder in Thales, said he was not in favour of pursuing a joint venture in railway operations between the French defence electronics firm and transport group Alstom.

Analysts have suggested Thales could be a possible partner for Alstom at a time when rivals Siemens and Bombardier are eyeing a potential tie-up of their rail operations, according to sources close to the matter.

Eric Trappier, chief executive of Dassault Aviation, told Reuters that he was "not at all" in favour of a similar joint venture between Alstom and Thales, which is specialised in rail signalling rather than in train parts.

"We're still pursuing the same vision (...), which has been well defined for the past two or three years and which consists of consolidating the rail signalling unit within Thales," Trappier said on the sidelines of a news conference in Paris.

A spokesman for Thales declined to comment. (Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer; Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)