Norwegian Air Shuttle has been told off by advertising standards officials for advertising flight deals but failing to show evidence that they existed.
The Advertising Standards Authority launched an investigation after a complainant said they were unable to find any fares available for £29.90 as claimed in an advert on a flight comparison website in May.
The text stated: "Fly for less. Stay for longer…Helsinki Direct from London From/one way incl. taxes £29.90*." The asterisk linked to text which stated ‘T&Cs apply’.
Norwegian responded to the investigation by stating the ad generated a dynamic feed directly from its website displaying the lowest fare available within the next nine months.
It stated there were no IT issues on the day the ad was seen and that the flights were available at the advertised price.
But the ASA said it failed to provide any evidence that the price in question was available to consumers at the time the ad appeared, and in reasonable quantities.
"The ad also did not make clear the date on which the ‘from’ price was accurate, nor clarify that the price was subject to change or include any information about how limited the availability of tickets was," said the ASA.
"For those reasons, we concluded that the price claim in the ad was misleading."
A Norwegian spokesperson said: "Our adverts go through robust quality control to ensure they are at the highest standard and follow the advertising guidelines in the countries we operate.
"We are aware of the ruling and have since addressed the issue to ensure standards are followed and customers can easily access our advertised fares with confidence."
