Wizz Air ad banned over misleading ‘green’ claim

The advertising watchdog on Wednesday (27 November) said the paid-for Google advert, seen on 9 June 2024, “had not made clear the basis of the claim, or provided verifying information”.

The authority said consumers would understand the claim “one of the greenest choices in air travel” as meaning that Wizz Air’s environmental impact was among the lowest of all the airlines operating flights to and from the UK.

The ASA concluded the advert was in breach of Broadcast Advertising Code rules 3.1 (misleading advertising) 3.33, 3.35 (comparisons with identifiable competitors), 11.1 and 11.3 (environmental claims).

In response to the investigation, Wizz Air said it has committed “billions of euros” to aviation’s decarbonisation efforts, made investments in alternative aviation fuels and that it operates “the youngest and most carbon-efficient fleet in Europe, with an average age of 4.3 years”.

As a result, the carrier claimed to have the lowest carbon emissions per passenger, equating to 52 grammes of carbon dioxide per revenue passenger kilometres (CO2/RPK).

However, the CO2/RPK measurement was not stated in the advert and, according to the ASA, it also did not include information that would allow consumers to understand the comparison.

The authority has since banned the advert and encouraged the carrier “to ensure the basis of future comparative environmental claims is made clear and does not give a misleading impression of their flights’ environmental impact”.

In August, the ASA made a similar ruling against Virgin Atlantic and banned an advert that made “misleading” claims about the environmental impact of alternative aviation fuels.