Manufacturing Industry

This month's adjudications by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority regarding the aviation industry - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Feb 9, 2000

The following adjudications relevant to the airline industry were made by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority in February.

A complaint was received by the ASA following an advertisement placed by United Airlines in the UK national press. The ad claimed 'freshest on-board air'. The complainant challenged this claim. In response to the ASA's investigation United Airlines sent a press release stating the carrier's intention to install a new air filer system which removed at least 99.97% of all air particles. However the airline failed to offer comparative data or technical information about the filter system and the Authority concluded that the complaint should be upheld because the 'freshest on-board air' claim had not been substantiated.

Pan Pacific Travel placed an advertisement in the regional press which listed flight prices for 'One way stop-overs (seasonal)' and 'Adventure travel' and also stated 'Taxes not incl'. A complainant objected that the advertisement was misleading because the prices did not include taxes. In response, the advertisers said they had not included the taxes because of the difficulty in covering every option with regard to different departure points and because currency fluctuations affect the conversion of foreign taxes to sterling. They added that taxes were explained fully when the customer contacted the company for a quotation. Whilst acknowledging the advertiser's comments, the Authority felt that compulsory taxes should be included in the advertised prices and as a result the complaint was upheld.

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