Ryanair has filed a second complaint to the European Commission about its French rival Air France.

The company claims, in two separate but related complaints, that Air France has abused its dominant position and availed of inappropriate state aid.

Last month, Ryanair announced that it would base two new aircraft at Marseille airport, which would serve 13 routes and deliver almost one million additional passengers annually to the airport.

Air France has filed a complaint about Ryanair's arrangements with Marseille airport. Air France is unhappy with the landing charges Ryanair is availing of at the facility.

Ryanair's head of regulatory affairs, Jim Callaghan, said: "This is the latest in a long line of abuses by Air France to protect their stranglehold on the French market. Now Air France is trying to prevent Ryanair from using lower-cost facilities in Marseille."

He said the deal given to Ryanair had been offered to Air France earlier but had been rejected.

"Ryanair has therefore today submitted a further complaint to the European Commission against Air France on the basis of an abuse of dominance under the European competition rules. In no other European member state does the national airline hold such a dominant position and engage in such abusive practices in order to block competition," he said.

Last month Ryanair filed a complaint to the European Commission regarding approximately €1 billion worth of state aid that Ryanair claims Air France has received from the French government in the form of subsidised domestic landing and passenger fees.