"Misleading" Ryanair adverts have been banned after the company claimed it has the "lowest carbon emissions of any major airline".

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled the budget airline broke rules on environmental claims and misleading consumers in its press, TV, and radio ads from September 2019.

The watchdog added that Ryanair's adverts need to change.

Both the company's radio and TV adverts reference "low CO2 emissions" while the text advert claimed "Ryanair has the lowest carbon emissions of any major airline".

The airline claimed the phrase "low CO2 emissions" in the radio and and TV adverts meant "less than average" after complaints were made.


In the print promotion the airline compared its CO2 emissions per passenger, per kilomtere, to four other big European carriers.

There is no common definition of what a "major airline" is.

The ASA has ruled the "ads... must not appear again in their current forms" as the claims could not be substantiated.

The watchdog said that customers would interpret the ads' claims to mean travelling with Ryanair would mean they were contributing less CO2 than travelling with other airlines, which could not be proved.

The ASA added: "We told Ryanair to ensure that when making environmental claims, they held adequate evidence to substantiate them and to ensure the basis of those claims were made clear."

Transport and Environment, which campaigns for cleaner travel in Europe, accused the airline of "greenwashing" in its campaign.

They said: "This ruling is a reminder that the aviation sector's climate impact is soaring because of a decades-long tax holiday and almost zero regulation of their pollution.

"European governments must, without delay, agree bilaterally to tax jet fuel until EU Vice-President Timmermans secures the end of tax exemption."

Ryanair said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the ruling, and maintained that it is the "greenest" airline in Europe.

In a statement, the company said: "Ryanair's CO2 emissions per passenger km is 66g, which is 25% lower than the other major European airlines.

"Ryanair is delighted with its latest environmental advertising campaign, which communicates a hugely important message for our customers.

"The single most important thing any consumer can do to halve their carbon footprint is switch to Ryanair.

"We successfully ran this advertising message in 10 countries across Europe.

"We made minor adjustments to the advertising in the UK market at the request of the relevant approval bodies.

"We were surprised we had to make these small changes, as the message was approved in other markets and we provided all the supporting data they required."