British Caledonian in the 1970s 31 March 1973 - with the BR airline designator it had inherited from BUA at the time of its formation. This resulted in exclusive use of the BR designator as a prefix for all BCal flight numbers. In 1973, BCal also inaugurated its fourth scheduled domestic trunk route between London Gatwick and Manchester. The new service was contracted to British Island Airways (BIA), BUIA's successor, which operated two daily return trips using its Handley Page Dart Herald turboprops. On 20 March 1974, BCal switched its Gatwick—Paris services to the then brand-new Charles de Gaulle Airport in the northern Paris suburb
Sørkjosen Airport transferred from Nordreisa Municipality to the state. Sørkjosen was launched as part of a national network of regional short take-off and landing airport which was proposed in the mid-1960s. The final decision to build the airport was taken by Parliament in 1972. Both Widerøe and Norving applied to operate the subsidized regional routes in Finnmark, which included the route to Sørkjosen. Widerøe was awarded the contract in 1973. Sørkjosen Airport opened on 1 August 1974, the same day as four regional airports in Finnmark. A new fire station, serving both the airport and the municipality, was completed in 1992, costing