Ryanair accuses ad regulator of bias

Low-fare airline Ryanair today complained to fair trade officers over “unfair, biased and untrue” rulings against the carrier by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Submitting a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the Irish no-frills airline said the ASA had “demonstrated a repeated lack of independence, impartiality and fairness”.

The ASA have upheld a number of complaints about Ryanair’s adverts, with seven rulings going against the airline over the past two years.

The airline said today: “We have submitted a formal complaint to the OFT regarding the unfair procedures, bias and factually untrue rulings made by the ASA against seven of Ryanair’s adverts over the past two years.

Ryanair’s Peter Sherrard said: “The ASA had abandoned any attempt at independence or impartiality when ruling on Ryanair’s adverts. This unelected quango’s director general has a stated policy of fighting back against Ryanair’s justified public criticisms of its bizarre, factually inaccurate and untenable rulings.”

Mr Sherrard said that in its latest ruling, the ASA had “clearly confirmed its bias and blind determination to rule against Ryanair’s adverts”.