Three Ryanair ads have been banned in the UK over 'misleading' claims about the airline's emissions.
It comes after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints about a press ad, a TV ad and a radio ad from last September.
The ads claimed Ryanair was "Europe’s low fare, low CO2 emissions airline" and that it had the "lowest carbon emissions of any major airline".
Complainants included a consultant in energy, transport and sustainable development - with many of those complaining suggesting that airlines by their nature did not have low emissions.
Ryanair defended the ads, noting that all three ads directed viewers or readers to the environmental page on the company's website to "allow them to review and verify the claims".
However, the ASA upheld the complaints.
They ruled that the ads breached their code on misleading advertising and environmental claims.
Explaining their decision, the ASA said: "While we considered the claims in the ads would be understood relatively and while we were satisfied that CO2 per passenger distance was an appropriate method to compare the carbon footprint of passengers on different airlines, we were concerned that the basis of the claims had not been made clear in the ads and that the evidence provided was insufficient to demonstrate that Ryanair was the lowest carbon-emitting airline on the basis of that metric.
"Consequently, we concluded that the claims 'Europe’s…Lowest Emissions Airline' and 'low CO2 emissions' were misleading.
"We told Ryanair Ltd to ensure that when making environmental claims, they held adequate evidence to substantiate them and to ensure that the basis of those claims were made clear."
The ASA has ruled that the three ads must not appear again in their current forms.
Ryanair said it is disappointed by the decision and maintains that it is the "greenest" airline in Europe.
