Ryanair adverts banned for 'misleading environmental claims' over low emissions

Rebecca Speare-Cole5 February 2020

A series of "misleading" Ryanair adverts have been banned after the company claimed to be Europe's "low CO2 emissions airline".

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruled that the budget airline broke rules on environmental claims and misled consumers in its press, TV, and radio ads from September 2019.

Both the TV and radio spot referenced "low CO2 emissions" while the text advert claimed "Ryanair has the lowest carbon emissions of any major airline".

After complaints were made, the airline claimed that the phrase "low CO2 emissions" in the radio and TV ads meant "less than average".

The print promotion from the Ryanair advert series that have been banned
ASA/Ryanair

For the print promotion, the carrier also tried to justify that it had compared its CO2 emissions per passenger, per kilometre, to four other big European carriers.

But the ASA said the "ads [...] must not appear again in their current forms", as the claims could not be substantiated.

They said that customers would interpret the ads' claims to mean that they were contributing less CO2 by travelling with Ryanair rather than other airlines, which could not be proved.

The watchdog said: "We told Ryanair to ensure that when making environmental claims, they held adequate evidence to substantiate them and to ensure the basis of those claims were made clear."

Ryanair has been accused of "greenwashing" its adverts (file image)
Ralph Orlowski/Reuters

Transport and Environment, which campaigns for cleaner travel in Europe, accused the airline of "greenwashing" in its campaign.

They said: "This ruling is a reminder that the aviation sector's climate impact is soaring because of a decades-long tax holiday and almost zero regulation of their pollution.

"European governments must, without delay, agree bilaterally to tax jet fuel until EU Vice-President Timmermans secures the end of tax exemption."

Ryanair said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the ruling, and maintained that it is the "greenest" airline in Europe.

In a statement, the company said: "Ryanair's CO2 emissions per passenger km is 66g, which is 25 per cent lower than the other major European airlines.

"Ryanair is delighted with its latest environmental advertising campaign, which communicates a hugely important message for our customers.

"The single most important thing any consumer can do to halve their carbon footprint is switch to Ryanair.

"We successfully ran this advertising message in 10 countries across Europe.

"We made minor adjustments to the advertising in the UK market at the request of the relevant approval bodies.

"We were surprised we had to make these small changes, as the message was approved in other markets and we provided all the supporting data they required."

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