RYAAY Ryanair Holdings PLC

By Maitane Sardon

The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority on Wednesday ordered Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYA.LN) to withdraw three ads over claims about its green credentials, ruling they are misleading.

The move comes as the Irish budget airline, which is among the top ten polluters in Europe across all industries with 9.9 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions in 2018 according to EU figures, faces criticism over its environmental impact.

The British advertising watchdog said Ryanair's TV, press and radio ads, in which it said it has "the lowest carbon emissions of any major airline" broke rules on environmental claims and misled consumers.

The ASA said consumers would understand that by choosing to travel with Ryanair, their journey would be contributing lower CO2 emissions than if they had chosen to travel with any other European airline, which it said the airline did not prove.

Green campaign and research group Transport & Environment said the ruling dispels Ryanair's green myths and shows the need for lawmakers to finally do something about airline emissions.

"This ruling is a reminder that the aviation sector's climate impact is soaring because of a decades-long tax holiday and almost zero regulation of their pollution," said Jo Dardenne, aviation manager at T&E.

Aviation is responsible for about 3% of the EU's total greenhouse-gas emissions and more than 2% of global emissions, but this could rise by up to 700% world-wide by 2050 as the sector continues to grow, according to the International civil Aviation Organization. In EU countries, the kerosene burned by airplanes is not subject to a fuel tax.

As part of the EU's Green Deal, a roadmap for the bloc to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged in December to review the sector's current tax exemptions.

Airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) and Ryanair oppose the tax, citing unfair international competition, stifled investment in lower-emission biofuels and their purchases of carbon credits in Europe.

Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2020 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)

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