Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Etihad have all had ads banned by the ASA owing to misleading impressions about the environmental impact of travelling with them.

The ASA is undertaking enforcement work around climate change and environmental claims using Artificial Intelligence to search for online ads that break its rules on sustainability.

A paid-for Google ad for Lufthansa, seen in July 2023, stated “Fly now with Lufthansa… Book your ticket directly with Lufthansa and explore destinations around the world… Fly more sustainably.”

Lufthansa said its Google Callouts ad highlighted options customers could take to make flights more sustainable, including its Green Fares, with which passengers on European services pay extra to fund a 20% sustainable aviation fuel contribution and offset the remaining 80%.

The airline said the ad’s format meant it could only provide very limited information, with further details via a link. 

The ASA said consumers would understand the “Fly more sustainably” claim to mean Lufthansa had a lower environmental impact than alternative airlines. “The ad did not clarify how the claim ‘Fly more sustainably’ worked in practice, and the basis of the claim was likely to be material information which consumers would need in order to make an informed decision,” the ASA ruled.

Lufthansa has now removed the “Fly more sustainably” sentence.

Air France-KLM was sanctioned for a Google ad for a Manchester-Bangkok flight, which said: “Air France is committed to protecting the environment: travel better and sustainably.”

The ASA said the claim that “Air France is committed to protecting the environment” and that it enabled people to “travel better and sustainably” would be understood by consumers to mean Air France offered a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to travel by air. The ASA considered it could not substantiate this.

Etihad’s breach of the ASA code also involved a paid-for Google ad. It said: “Explore the World With Confidence and Total Peace Of Mind With Etihad Airways. Environmental Advocacy. Award-Winning Service.”

The ASA said the claim needed a “high level of substantiation” the airline did not supply. Etihad agreed to remove all references to “environmental advocacy”.

However, the ASA added: “While we welcomed Etihad’s decision to remove the phrase “environmental advocacy” from future ads, we had not seen any evidence that they were engaged in such advocacy.”

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: "Consumers are increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of their travel plans, but deceptive claims by some holiday firms and airlines can make it impossible for them to make informed decisions before booking.

"It is encouraging to see the ASA taking such decisive action against adverts with environmental claims that could mislead consumers, as this can be an unfair commercial practice. Travel companies must clean up their act and stop taking advantage of their customers’ desire to reduce the impact of travel on the environment."