A complaint about a poster advertising Aer Lingus flights to Washington was upheld by the complaints committee of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland.
The poster stated "Washington direct". The complainant said it was misleading as all flights from Dublin to Washington go via Shannon on both the outward and return journeys.
The advertisers defended the poster, stating that the International Air Transport Association's definition of a direct routing fare is "the shortest route operated by any carrier in both directions between two ticketed points".
The ASAI committee "felt that the public would not necessarily be aware of the industry descriptions and considered that consumers would normally expect flights advertised as direct without any qualifications not to include a stopover".
