The People Really Do Pay Attention After All

Virgin Atlantic thought they could get away with claiming to be the first airline to fly transatlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. As it turns out, they were wrong.

The radio ad, which was made public late last year, stated that Flight 100 from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK would make them the world’s first commercial airline to fly across the Atlantic on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. Shortly after, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received five complaints. They all said, in various words, that the “100% sustainable” statement was a false representation of the airline’s actual environmental footprint.

Before the release of the ad, Virgin Atlantic was named the winner of a competition hosted by the Department for Transport (DfT). The event intended to motivate the industry to “achieve the first net zero transatlantic flight on an aircraft using 100% sustainable aviation fuel within one year.”

Since the ad copied the DfT’s wording, Virgin Atlantic assumed readers wouldn’t consider the credentials of said “100% sustainable aviation fuel.” In the eyes of the airline, their advert was a factual description of the fuel that had been exclusively used to power their transatlantic flight.

Virgin Atlantic, believe it or not, has confirmed that “100% sustainable” aviation fuel produces the same level of CO2 emissions during flight as Jet-A.

Sustainable aviation fuel is still relatively beneficial. It can be produced synthetically by capturing carbon directly from the air, rather than from the ground. In this way, the sustainable alternative generates CO2 savings relative to the increase found in the production of traditional fuel.

Using this information, Virgin Airlines later calculated that the specific aviation fuel mix used for Flight 100 saved 64% in greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately for them, 64% is not the same as 100%.

The ASA agreed that the ad was misleading to customers, and banned it.

“Claiming that a product or service is sustainable creates an impression that it is not causing harm to the environment,” said Miles Lockwood, the ASA’s Director of Complaints and Investigations. “We all have a part to play in tackling climate change, and we want businesses to talk about their environmental credentials.”

FMI: www.asa.org.uk