UK’s advertising watchdog slams Virgin Atlantic for sustainability claims on 100% SAF flight

In the UK, a radio ad for Virgin Atlantic, heard on 24 November 2023, stated, “On the 28th of November, Virgin Atlantic’s Flight 100 will take to the skies on our unique flight mission from London Heathrow to JFK to become the world’s first commercial airline to fly transatlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. When they said it was too difficult, we said: challenge accepted. Virgin Atlantic Flight 100. See the world differently.”

Five complainants, who believed the claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” gave a misleading impression of the fuel’s environmental impact, challenged whether it was misleading and could be substantiated.

The BCAP (Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice) Code stated that unqualified claims could mislead if they omitted significant information. The meaning of all terms used in ads must be clear to consumers.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency considered that while many listeners would understand from the ad that Flight 100 had, uniquely, flown transatlantic using only sustainable aviation fuel, a significant proportion would understand the claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” to mean that the fuel used was 100% sustainable.

The ASA considered that in the absence of information in the ad which explained that sustainable aviation fuel produced reduced, but still significant, emissions over its full lifecycle, including in-flight emissions, and which explained the ways in which the fuel otherwise significantly adversely impacted the environment, a significant proportion of listeners were likely to overestimate its environmental benefits.

It therefore concluded that the unqualified claim “100% sustainable aviation fuel” was misleading. The ad breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising), 9.2, 9.3, and 9.5 (Environmental claims) and told Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd t/a Virgin Atlantic to ensure that future ads which referred to the use of sustainable aviation fuel included qualifying information which explained the environmental impact of the fuel.