Flight and package holiday adverts are 'monitored constantly'

Adverts for flights and package holidays are monitored constantly by the Consumer and Competition Division to ensure they do not mislead consumers, division director general Mireille Vella said yesterday.

Enquiries about various adverts are ongoing, Dr Vella said, although she stopped short of specifying what these were.

Asked whether the division was taking a closer look at major low-cost airline Ryanair - which is being investigated by the UK Office of Fair Trading for misleading adverts - Dr Vella said all adverts were being monitored, adding that she could not go into specifics.

Division officials are constantly on the lookout for any misleading adverts, taking a proactive role rather than waiting for complaints to be lodged. The division monitors all adverts booked by airlines and travel agents continuously as these tend to change quite regularly.

Normally, Dr Vella explained, companies tend to comply with the division's instructions and amend their adverts, adding that the division asks for a guarantee that misleading adverts are changed.

Asked what the most frequent grievances were, Dr Vella said there were various issues.

Ryanair, which started flying to Malta in 2006, is being investigated by the British OFT, which is considering taking action against the airline under regulations controlling misleading adverts.

The budget airline was referred to the office by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which said Ryanair had repeatedly breached the advertising code meant to protect consumers and promote fair competition.

Over a two-year period, the authority had investigated complaints about the airline's advertisements and found them in breach on seven occasions.

The ASA said the airline was "persistently misleading customers" by making exaggerated claims about the extent of availability of flights at the advertised prices, advertising prices that did not include taxes and charges and making misleading and denigratory comparisons with competitors.

The airline also did not clearly state significant restrictions that would exclude customers from taking advantage of an offer and was not providing evidence to prove the claims it was making, the ASA said.