Ryanair has launched a complaint to the European Commission against Air France regarding about €1bn that Air France has received from the French government over the past number of years.
Ryanair describes the payments as “illegal state aid”.
“The French government has maintained an airport charging system whereby landing and passenger charges for domestic routes are often up to 50% lower than on routes between France and other EU member states,” a statement from Ryanair said.
“This is illegal under European law and the European Commission has sued other governments for similar differentiated charging.
“As a result of this unfair price advantage, Air France has received almost €1bn in illegal state aid, which has furthered their dominance in the French market and has placed competitors like Ryanair at a serious competitive disadvantage.”