The European Commission has fined British Airways (BA) €6.8 million for illegal sales practices and abusing a dominant market position, a spokesman for the EU's executive said yesterday.

But in London, British Airways said immediately that it would appeal, saying that the ruling was "wrong in fact and in law".

Responding to a complaint by Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic, the Commission found, after a two-year probe, that BA had been offering bonuses to travel agents that discouraged them from placing business with other airlines.

The seven-year practice amounted to an illegal barrier to airlines trying to compete with BA in Britain, the Commission said.

The Commission said it would ensure the principles, on which it had made these decisions, were applied to other airlines which faced a similar situation in the EU.

Virgin Atlantic, in its complaint, said the bonuses were offered to travel agents in order to favour BA irrespective of the price of tickets, the quality of service and convenience of the flight schedule.

In London, BA's director for sales, Mr Dale Moss, countered in a statement: "Our commission arrangements for travel agents are similar to those run by most major airlines in Europe and across the world.