An email sent out by Etihad Airways on January 7 was shown offering an upgraded seat after a flight was purchased, “upgrading to experience our business studio."
The advert also included an image showing a cabin, which featured a bed with bedside table and other storage space.
A complaint was filed against the UAE carrier after a customer believed they had received an inferior seat and “challenged whether the ad was misleading and exaggerating the performance of the product.”
Etihad Airways responded to the complaint by saying that they operated a mixed fleet of aircraft, with some featuring an earlier generation of cabin product.
Etihad said: “In line with industry practice when advertising business class cabins, they [adverts] would feature the latest cabins.
“Prior to booking, however, customers were made aware of the aircraft and equipment being operated and the cabin seat product being offered.”
The airline went on to argue that it did not think the images of the business class product misrepresented or exaggerated the product as “customers in long-haul business class has many identical features to the business studio."
However, the ASA has ordered that Etihad Airways should ensure their adverts show clearly presented material information and to “ensure the images they use in their advertising do not exaggerate the benefit of the product.”
The ASA, said: “We noted the complainant maintained that they had purchased the upgrade on the understanding they would receive the business studio product as was represented to them in the email they received and that they believed the image had been enhanced to make the product appear more spacious.
“We further considered that, while consumers would be aware that older aircraft did not carry some of the modern features of newer aircraft, they should still be able to achieve a broadly similar experience as represented to them in the airline’s advertising.
“We considered that the further images supplied to us by the advertiser showed that the business class cabin was not as spacious and private as was implied by the image on the landing page.
“Therefore we considered the ad exaggerated the benefit of purchasing a business class cabin product.”
