Ryanair advert banned by watchdog

Ryanair has been banned from using an advert which claims its London-to-Brussels flights are faster and cheaper than Eurostar.

The move comes after the budget airline failed to take into account travelling from city centres to the airport.

Ryanair compared its one-hour-10-minute flight to the two-hour-11-minute train trip.

But travelling from London and Brussels city centres to the two airports would add a total of one hour and 45 minutes to the total journey time, according to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The watchdog also upheld a complaint from Eurostar about Ryanair claiming its London to Brussels flights were "cheaper" than the train link.

But transfer costs from both airports to London and Brussels city centres would cost a minimum £8 each.

The watchdog said: "We considered that many readers would not be aware of the locations of the airports and the additional costs incurred.

"For this reason Ryanair's "cheaper" claim was "likely to mislead".

Ryanair hit back at the claims and argued that the advert made it clear its flights flew from London Stansted.

The budget airline argued that the time it took to reach the airport or train station was "irrelevant" because its advert only compared flight times to Eurostar train times.

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