Ryanair has complained to the European Commission about what it has described as Air France's attempt to stop it from using an airport in Marseille, the airline announced this afternoon.
"This is the latest in a long line of abuses by Air France to protect their stranglehold on the French market," Ryanair's head of regulatory affairs, Jim Callaghan, said in a statement.
The statement said that after the company last month announced its intention to base two new aircraft at Marseille Airport to serve 13 routes and gain almost one million passengers, the French national carrier had taken legal action aimed at blocking the move.
Air France has filed an action at France's highest administrative court against the airport in an attempt to shut Ryanair out, the company said.