French airport ordered to change 'trendy' English name after critics blast 'Anglo-mania'

Despite the airport chief arguing the English spelling of the name was more “trendy” and attractive, a court ruled against him and ruled the airport must change its name to Lorraine Aéroport.

The eight-year-long battle in Metz ruled that the airport’s name should comply with the so-called Toubon law.

Brought into force in 1994, Toubon law applies strict rules on the use of English and other foreign languages when used for advertising and state correspondence services.

The bizarre language law also applies in French schools and can make them ineligible for government funding should they not use French to teach.

Yves Loubet, the managing director of the formerly-known Lorraine Airport, said the English spelling came about over a desire to “have a commercial name that was more meaningful”.

Loubet added that the English name was also “a little more geared towards the airline industry”, which more commonly uses English as a primary language.

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He continued: “We’re a very small company, and the idea was to be more trendy and catchy.

“Does it sell more or less? I don’t know.”

French campaign group Association Francophonie Avenir (Francophone Future Association), which aims to defend the use of the French language and fight against all English, were one group to have made a complaint against the airport.

According to the Telegraph, the AFA claimed they were fed up with what they perceived as an invasion of “anglicisms”.

Régis Ravat, the AFA’s president, was delighted with the court ruling, telling Le Figaro that it “sets a precedent that will make it possible to proceed more quickly in future cases”.

Following the ruling, the airport was ordered to pay symbolic damages equating to just €1 (87p) but an eye-watering €2,500 in legal fees.

The name change may come as a shock to some British expats who have recently celebrated a victory after the French parliament agreed to a new ruling which allows second homeowners to stay in France for up to six months without a visa.

Many expats had been campaigning for a change to the existing rules which restricts them to 90 days in the country in every 180-day period.

Founder of the France Visa Free Facebook group, Steven Jolly described his excitement at hearing the news about the rule change.

He said: “After two years of campaigning it’s a great achievement to see that France is close to lawfully granting long-stay visas automatically to those British citizens with a secondary residence in France.

“This is a huge step in the right direction for the France Visa Free campaign, and a recognition that those with a home in France should be allowed to continue living in their homes in just same way that they did before Brexit without having to make France their primary residence.

“The current visa process is time-consuming and expensive, and really not equitable or reasonable, given that French people can spend six months per visit in the UK, even if they don’t own property.

“This legislation recognises the problems and is a credible attempt to address the problems.”