Ryanair rapped over easyJet boast
Low-cost airline Ryanair has been criticised by advertising watchdogs for
making misleading claims.
Ryanair ran newspaper adverts, which claimed it had "better punctuality"
than Easyjet, citing the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in the
advert.
Neither carrier is a member of the AEA and, Ryanair, whose main UK operation
is based at Stansted, was told "not to misattribute statistics".
Ryanair apologised for the advert but noted the sole complainant was
Easyjet.
The advert, with a headline "Why Pay More... To Arrive Later", contained a
table of statistics but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said
Ryanair had "misleadingly implied" these were from an independent source.
Question of distance
In a separate ruling, the ASA has upheld complaints from two members of the
public over a Ryanair advert about new routes from Luton airport.
The airline had said Spanish destinations Girona and Reus served Barcelona.
The travellers, however, believed the two destinations were considerable
distances from the city, the ASA said.
The body said airlines should not claim airports served specific cities
unless those airports were listed by the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) as doing so.
Dublin-based Ryanair said the references had been published in error.
Complaints from the same two people over claims in the advert that Orio al
Serio, Ciampino, Treviso and Vasteras, respectively served Milan, Rome,
Venice and Stockholm, were rejected because they were included in IATA
listings.