Europe Supports BA Call for Paris Airport Access

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THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday ordered France to open up its domestic air routes following a complaint from TAT, part of British Airways. BA responded by announcing four new daily return flights from Paris Orly to London Heathrow from June, although the French transport ministry said it would contest the ruling.

The commission's decision overturned a French government ruling last year that foreign-owned airlines serving Paris could only use Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, and not Paris Orly.

BA has a 49 per cent stake in the French airline TAT, which complained to the commission in September that France was discriminating against it in the French …