Watchdog backs Ryanair complaint over Easyjet ad

Low-cost airline easyJet "denigrated" rival Ryanair by suggesting the Irish carrier did not fly passengers to the destinations they had booked, the advertising watchdog has ruled.

Easyjet misleadingly implied that Ryanair customers would end up in the wrong city by listing airports that were often some distance from their destination, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled.

A train poster for easyJet read: "Who loves flying you to the place you actually booked?". A box underneath headed Ryanair listed: "Barcelona = Girona, Paris = Beauvais, Milan = Bergamo, Venice = Treviso. More text in a heart under the heading easyJet read: "Barcelona = Barcelona, Paris = Paris, Milan = Milan, Venice = Venice." Ryanair complained that the ad was "denigratory" by implying it delivered customers to the wrong destination.

It pointed out that Beauvais, Bergamo and Treviso had been officially designated as airports for their corresponding cities by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Ryanair advertised Girona as Girona (Barcelona) to make clear that it was a destination in its own right and not a designated airport.

Defending the ad, easyJet said it did not dispute IATA designations but believed that customers are more interested in the proximity of airports to their destination cities.

Easyjet said it was "trying to make the point that easyJet flies to primary airports and Ryanair, in many cases, to secondary airports which are often significantly further away from the city which they serve".