Austria
Austrian Advertising Council on Austrian Airlines
Jurisdiction: Austrian Advertising Council
Side A: Anonymous Party (Individual)
Side B: Austrian Airlines (Corporation)
Core objectives: Whether an advertisement on CO2 neutral flying by Austrian Airlines is misleading
Summary
The contested advertisement concerned claims about carbon neutral flying by Austrian Airlines. The advertisement suggested that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) already made carbon neutral travel.The complainant alleged that the advertisement was misleading, as it implied that flying without impacting the climate was already possible. The complainant argued that the term SAF had not been clearly defined and was misleading in itself. The complainant stressed that Austrian Airlines had not used SAF with an 100% net saving potential which the advertisement implied. Thus, the SAF itself did not lead to carbon neutral flying. The complainant pointed out that Austrian Airlines purchased more SAF than required in order to meet the demand of a person purchasing 100% SAF-option without adequately explaining this to the consumer.
The Austrian Advertising Council found a breach of articles. 1.6 (environment) and 1.1 (general advertising principles) of the Ethics Code. The Council held that the advertising claims were misleading due to lack of explanation how CO2 neutrality was reached respectively as SAF only allowed for an emission reduction of max. 80% even though they implied that the flight was CO2 neutral.
Case documents
from the Grantham Research Institute
from the Grantham Research Institute
