Delta to offer direct flights between Indianapolis and Paris

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indianapolis will begin offering direct flights to Paris next year under a deal that could give Delta Air Lines $5.5 million in taxpayer-funded incentives.

Gov. Eric Holcomb made the announcement Wednesday at the Indianapolis airport. The Republican received $30 million in the state's two-year budget for economic development efforts, which he was allowed to use to help lure the direct European flight line to Indianapolis.

State officials say Delta has agreed to offer at least three flights a week, beginning in May. They say Delta must meet a minimum passenger threshold in order to collect the incentives offered through the two-year deal.

Holcomb said he disagreed with a characterization that the deal amounted to state government "subsidizing" a private company. He says he prefers the term "incentivizing."