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Thursday, March 4, 2010

EasyJet Advert targets Ryanair

EasyJet and Ryanair once again face each other in an advertising clash. This is not the first time that one of the airline's advert features the other company. This is what EasyJet did in its last campaign as it was promoting the fact that they fly to major airports whereas the others fly to smaller out of town airports!


The outdoor advert featured the tagline 'Who loves flying you to the place you actually booked?', obviously implying that Ryanair flies to airports some distance from the supposed destination city (sometime the airport can be as far outside the city as two hours bus ride). Under the Ryanair section the advert reported that 'Barcelona = Girona, Paris = Beauvais, Milan = Bergamo, Venice = Treviso'. In comparison to this, under EasyJet section, the same advert reported that they fly to 'Barcelona = Barcelona, Paris = Paris, Milan = Milan, Venice = Venice'.




Ryanair filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority claiming that Beauvais, Bergamo and Treviso had been officially designated as airports for their corresponding cities by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The budget carrier said also that the way they advertise the destination is faithful to the destination...in fact they report Girona as 'Girona (Barcelona)', rather than 'Barcelona (Girona)'.

The ASA took note of the complaint and agreed with Ryanairn on the basis that it was true that IATA had designated the airports for Paris, Milan and Venice respectively, and advised easyJet to seek copy advice from CAP for future campaigns.

EasyJet UK general manager Paul Simmons said he was "disappointed" by the ruling. He said: "It is a well-know fact that easyJet flies to major airports whereas Ryanair serves out-of-town airfields which can be a two hour bus ride away from your destination."

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