Low-cost airline criticised for 'misleading' ad
 

This reported on Ireland In-Line

Low-cost airline criticised for 'misleading' ad
20/08/2002 - 15:14:38

A low-cost airline was today criticised by the advertising watchdog for making cheap flight claims.

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said a poster for bmibaby, British Midland’s no-frills carrier, was "misleading".

The poster boasted one-way fares to Dublin or Murcia, in Spain, cost from £25 (€39) including taxes, when booked on the Internet.

The bottom of the advert, however, stated: "from East Midlands Airport, book online or call".

A member of the public who wanted to fly to Murcia contacted the ASA after telephoning bmibaby and being told details about the advertised price were only available through the company’s website.

British Midland confirmed the fare was only available on-line, and that prices booked by telephone started at £30 (€47).

After carrying out an investigation, the ASA concluded the poster failed to make the distinction clear and upheld the complaint.

It asked the airline to change the wording and told them to contact the advertising body set-up to prevent companies breaking the industry’s code of practice.

The decision is the second complaint about bmibaby upheld in the last three months.

On the previous occasion it was criticised for an email advertisement which did not make clear travellers had to buy a return flight to get the quoted price.

Complaints to the ASA about no-frills airlines have spiralled to 21 so far this year, up from 16 in the whole of last year.

"Spiralled" from 16 to 21 eh?

And thats against how many tickets sold? Round down to the nearest Million if you like...

WWW

Take cover....
 

Sensationalist journalist on the prowl.....:rolleyes: :p

Cant help but think the person who made the complaint was looking for a free ride after all the difference between the poster and the telephone quote was only a fiver. Seems that someone went to alot of trouble for £5.........:rolleyes:

Airlines in the press
 

Might be an idea to have a PPRuNe forum for journos to come and request info, as is happening with 9/11, and for threads dealing with blatantly crap reporting. There are a few journos like Jackonicko who are long time members but a lot are just using the place as a cheap research tool [despite the "big red notice" about rumours]