Budget airline easyJet plans to file a complaint against Cohor, the agency that assigns slots at French airports, alleging it is too close to domestic carrier Air France.

EasyJet, which saw its shares plunge last week after it posted a worse-than-expected first-half loss and warned of price pressures, said it would file the complaint this week at a court in Melun, France.

"The very big problem of obtaining time slots leaving Roissy or Orly airports is the major structural obstacle to development of true competition among airlines operating in France," the airline said in a statement.

Cut-throat fare competition and surging fuel prices have weighed on low-cost and major network carriers of late, and airline shares were sharply lower on Monday.

Cohor was appointed by French authorities in 1995 to allocate slots at busy airports.

The organization describes itself on its web site as an "independent" non-profit association financed by some French carriers and airports, but its board includes a representative from Air France who serves as treasurer and members from Air France subsidiaries Britair and Regional.

On Monday, Cohor acknowledged the easyJet complaint and pointed to a statement it issued last month in response to complaints from the airline about its independence. Air France declined to comment on the matter.

In its April statement Cohor said its board had no role in allocating slots and noted that any airline that wanted to become a member of Cohor was open to do so. Member company contributions make up half of Cohor's budget.

Cohor also said in the statement that easyJet had boosted its number of flights out of Orly and Roissy from zero to 35 over the past two years.

But in its statement on Monday, easyJet said it had taken it only three months, rather than years, to build a comparable network in Germany. The low-cost airline also noted that only founding members of Cohor were allowed to participate in elections of the association's management committee.

"It is for this reason that easyJet has never wanted to be a member of Cohor," it said.

EasyJet, Europe's second-biggest no frills carrier, said last Wednesday it was no longer "cautiously optimistic" about its full-year performance, pushing its shares to their lowest level since October 2003.

The carrier was forced to apologize to thousands of passengers the previous Saturday after dozens of its aircraft were grounded because of misplaced insurance documents.

(Reuters)