The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said this morning it has referred Ryanair to the Office of Fair Trading for what it called persistent and misleading claims about its fares.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said this morning it has referred Ryanair to the Office of Fair Trading for what it called persistent and misleading claims about its fares.
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The airline has fallen foul of ASA regulations seven times over the past two years, it said.
The rare complaint - its last OFT referral was in 2005 - escalates the row between the two organisations, which have recently engaged in a bitter war of words.
The airline last week announced it had complained to the OFT about the ASA's conduct.
Ryanair officials said the ASA was biased against it, had unfair procedures and had written factually incorrect rulings.
An OFT spokesman said it had received ASA's complaint first - almost a week before Ryanair's.
Criticising Ryanair, the ASA said the airline had "persistently misled consumers" by; exaggerating details about available flights, not advertising prices with airport taxes and charges and making misleading comparisons with competitors.
The ASA also claims that the airline has failed to reveal what restrictions customers faced and does not providing evidence to back its claims.
"It is very disappointing, but absolutely necessary, that we have had to take this course of action," ASA Director General, Christopher Graham, said in a statement.
"The ASA has given Ryanair every opportunity to put its house in order and ensure that its advertising adheres to the codes. Instead, they have continued to mislead consumers and denigrate competitors."
A Ryanair spokesman referred to the airline's statement last week when it announced its OFT complaint.
"We have submitted a formal complaint to the OFT regarding the unfair procedures, bias and factually untrue rulings made by the ASA against seven of Ryanair's adverts over the past two years," it said.