easyJet cheap flights ad banned owing to complaint from Ryanair

easyJet has been forced by the Advertising Standards Agency to withdraw some of its adverts.

Adverts used in an online and press campaign for easyJet have been banned by the advertising watchdog after complaints from rival carrier Ryanair.

EasyJet ran a series of four Internet banner ads and a press ad promoting a range of cheap summer fares. Within the ads it said that consumers would receive a refund doubling the difference in price if they could find a better deal elsewhere. However, in the terms and conditions easyJet stipulated that a range of restrictions applied to its cheapest price offer, as per the information available. These included the stipulation that comparisons could only be made with fares from rivals with flights from the same departure and destination airport within an hour of easyJet's own scheduled services.

Ryanair lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority objecting that there were too many restrictions around easyJet's cheapest fare offer for customers to be able to find comparable flights with competitors. The rival airline said that the hefty level of restrictions meant that the ads were therefore misleading.

In its ruling the ASA said that the ads implied that the "double the difference" refund offer was easy to obtain when it in reality "very restricting terms and conditions suggested it was not".

"Easyjet defended the ads saying its terms and conditions were explicitly stated on each ad and refuted Ryanair's allegations that easyJet flights were always cheaper as the promotion applied to a limited promotional period, according to media. The ASA ruled that while the design and layout of the ads gave the impression the double the difference refund was easy to obtain, the very restricting terms and conditions suggested it was not.

However, because the price promise was dependent on the customer providing a comparable flight and did not state that easyJet's prices were guaranteed to always be cheaper than their competitors, the ASA concluded.

The move comes after numerous ads for Ryanair have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.