RYANAIR has been warned to abide by strict advertisement guidelines after being rapped over a fare promotion offer.
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint by a passenger who challenged the availability of £49 return flights advertised to Paris.
Ryanair ran a national advertisement in the Sun on how to book flights starting at £49 to the French capital.
But the complainant, who tried to take advantage of the offer by telephone, was told on two occasions that the cost was £46 plus £15 UK tax.
In its evidence, Ryanair said 44,000 passengers made use of the offer and supplied a copy of an issued ticket. Of seven prices available on the route, Ryanair showed there was one quoted at £49 plus local tax.
The ASA said it was concerned that the complainant seemed to have been quoted a price for weekend travel despite asking for a weekday ticket.
When asked for full documentary proof, Ryanair was unable to show how many seats were sold at the advertised price or how many seats had been made available for the offer price on each flight.
The ASA said Ryanair had not supplied adequate evidence to support its adverts.