Ryanair said it filed a complaint to the European Commission claiming Air France received some ?1 billion ($1.28 billion) in illegal state aid "over the past number of years."

According to the Irish LCC, which announced Wednesday that it will open its first French base this fall (ATWOnline, May 11), 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 states. "This is illegal under European law and the European Commission has sued other governments for similar differentiated charging," the airline said in a statement.

Ryanair said the "unfair price advantage" was worth ?1 billion to AF, "which has furthered their dominance in the French market and has placed competitors like Ryanair at a serious competitive disadvantage." It asked the EC to require France to alter its airport charging system and recover the "aid" from AF.

Air France was unmoved by the allegations and noted that all French airport and passenger taxes are regulated by the government and not by the airline. "This is a publicity stunt," AF Head of Communications Veronique Brachet told ATWOnline. "Besides, Ryanair has certain facts muddled up. It is correct that passenger taxes for domestic flights are lower than for intra-European flights; however, these lower domestic passenger taxes are applicable to all airlines, LCCs as well as full-service carriers." AF also said that only passenger charges varied while landing charges remained constant, contrary to Ryanair's assertion.