41.   Air France and the US airline Continental Airlines signed commercial agreements in Houston, Texas, on Friday, the French state airline said here on Monday.

42.   Air Inter employees, striking against foreign competition in the French domestic airline industry, disrupted traffic at Orly airport on Tuesday.

43.   All flights by the French airline Air France Europe will be cancelled Sunday, the company announced, after pilot unions called a one-day strike.

44.   An easing of protectionist regulations in France, under pressure from the European Commission, has so far engendered competition mainly from smaller French airlines.

45.   British Airways was given permission Tuesday to take over provisional running of troubled French airline Air Liberte, saving it from liquidation, a French court ruled.

46.   There was so far no official confirmation that the French airline Air France was to sell its stake in Sabena to the Belgian government.

47.   This was only achieved however by Air Liberte, the cash-strapped private French airline which is being taken over by British Airways.

48.   Two British airlines and a French consortium put in rival bids Monday for the troubled French airline Air Liberte which is currently under court administration.

49.   Meanwhile the French domestic airline Air Inter was expected to be hit by a new strike on Thursday and Friday, the start of the Easter holiday travel period.

50.   Lufthansa claims the subsidies allowed the French airline to launch a price war, particularly in Germany.