The chief executive of Air France criticised on Thursday the French government's decision to impose a new tax on airport operators, arguing that it created unfair competition in the sector.

Air France CEO Anne Rigail told RTL Radio that she thought the tax, which will principally hit main airport company ADP , was unfair as smaller airports used by Air France's low-cost rival airlines would not be impacted in the same way.

"It poses problems for us. For us, it raises new competitive distortions which will hurt us," she said. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)