Aer Lingus falls foul of ASA

Aer Lingus has been accused of running an ad campaign last year which misled passengers into believing that flights from London to Dublin, Belfast and Cork could be purchased for free.

The ad which ran in the regional press in the UK under the banner 'No Aer Fare, just pay taxes and charges' was referred to the Advertising Standards Authority by Ryanair.

The ASA noted that Aer Lingus believed that the ad content complied with the CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice)  Code on Travel Marketing, however the main headline 'No Aer Fare' was considered misleading. The ASA concluded that the ad should have included the additional information on charges in the headline and ruled that the ad must not be used in it's present format.