Ryanair told to remove ‘misleading’ adverts following thousands of complaints
Britain's advertising watchdog has told Ryanair to remove their 'misleading' travel ads after the body received more than 2,000 complaints from viewers.
Britain’s advertising watchdog has told Ryanair to remove its ‘misleading’ travel campaign after the body received more than 2,000 complaints from viewers.
The airline’s recent TV ads were accompanied by the slogan ‘Jab & Go‘ – in reference to COVID-19 vaccines.
A voiceover on the adverts promised that “vaccines are coming – so book your Easter and summer holidays with Ryanair”, proposing holiday destinations such as Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece.
But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has denounced the campaign, claiming that “the ads misleadingly provided consumers with a reassurance that being vaccinated against COVID-19 was likely to allow them to go on holiday without restrictions.”
The ASA added: “It’s important that all travel companies take particular care, at a time of significant uncertainty about when lockdown restrictions will end, not to mislead or over exaggerate when it will be possible for people to go on holiday.”
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Ryanair said it disagreed with the “baseless” ruling, but has pulled the advertisements regardless.
A spokesperson for the airline commented: “The ASA’s ruling flies in the face of the UK’s successful vaccine rollout, however even though this ruling is baseless, Ryanair will comply with it and the Jab & Go adverts will not run again.”
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Ryanair’s ‘Jab & Go’ campaign had been part of its mission to increase bookings following an extremely tough year – with the airline recording enormous losses since the beginning of the pandemic.
This week, the firm revealed that traffic was down 88% to ‘1.3 million guests’.
It also reported a Q3 loss of €306m – compared to a Q3 profit of €88m in the previous year.
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The company’s latest financial statement said that 2021 was set to be the “most challenging year in Ryanair’s 35 year history,” predicting the airline could face “a net loss of between €850m and €950m.”
Strict travel rules have kept hundreds of flights grounded in 2021 – with new rules requiring passengers entering the UK to show proof of a negative COVID test and isolate for 10 days upon arrival.
People visiting or returning from 30 ‘high-risk’ countries must stay in specific accommodation for 10 days.
Restrictions are expected to remain in place for some weeks, with the travel industry looking ahead to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for exiting lockdown – due to be announced on the week of February 22.
Manchester Airport’s grand opening of its multi-million revamp of Terminal 2 has also been delayed until at least April, but the first images of the transport hub appeared online earlier this week.
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The UK looks set for a ’30°C heatwave’ this summer, according to weather expert
Danny Jones
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down spring but the warm weather is finally starting to arrive here in Manchester, with temperatures reaching up to 21°C this week and the summery vibes only set to increase over the next month or so as meteorologists are predicting a 30°C heatwave soon enough.
March onwards has been a pure mix of blustery winds, grey skies and flashes of rainfall, with just a few glimpses of sun peeking through and the thermometer has still been struggling to get into double digits – until now anyway.
As we leave April behind, the forecast across the UK is looking a lot brighter and according to the likes of the Met Office, those numbers are going to keep creeping as we head deeper into the month.
In fact, some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time. It better bloody hurry up, put it that way.
According to Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services, while much of May will be a bit of a mixed bag, “towards the latter stage and into June and July… we will see climbing temperatures well into the 30s in the prone areas.”
As reported by Birmingham Live, while Dale didn’t detail the kind of heat Manchester can expect, specifically, the indication is that the region is beginning to dry and the country as a whole is now heading “in the right direction”.
Although it likely won’t be until the very tail end of May that we start to see the summer as we know rolling in, the trends around the continent are suggesting positive signs, adding that “a lot of Europe is getting the scorching hot temperatures” of late.
The Met Office’s Tom Morgan also warned The Guardian that we get anything close to a heatwave this month, so we’ll have to be patient and wait for the turn come June time, especially up North.
While we did enjoy a heatwave in September of last year, hitting a top end of 33.5°C, the chances of the country challenging the most recent temperature record sat back in 2022 (40.3°C in July 2023) are still looking slim.
April has been described as a “month of two halves” overall and let’s just say we’re looking forward to a strong showing this May.
Where in Greater Manchester are you most looking forward to heading when summer finally arrives?
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Dunk (via Flickr)
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Co-op Live assures fans arena WILL open this week in time for Olivia Rodrigo and other gigs
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s huge new arena the Co-op Live has assured fans that it will definitely, actually, for sure open this week.
The staggering new music venue beside the Etihad Stadium has been hit by a couple of high-profile delays in the last fortnight.
Although a test event with Rick Astley went ahead on 21 April, giving a small audience a glimpse inside the state-of-the-art arena, the brakes were slammed on soon afterwards.
Co-op Live pushed its opening date back while it ironed out some kinks, namely ‘power supply issues’, and underwent rigorous testing to ‘run all shows safely’.
That meant Peter Kay was rescheduled to 29 and 30 April… but then got postponed again, along with The Black Keys, who were meant to perform last weekend.
All the delays have left fans panicking that their shows will also be delayed, with some huge shows like Olivia Rodrigo, Take That, and Liam Gallagher lined up in the coming weeks and months.
But Co-op Live has now issued a statement reassuring gig-goers that they are full steam ahead and ready to open as planned this week.
The first act to perform here officially will now be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on 1 May (not quite as local a name as they were gunning for, but we move).
He’ll be followed by Olivia Rodrigo and her Guts Tour, who will perform two sold-out gigs on 3 and 4 May.
Then Keane will play the Co-op Live on 5 May to mark 20 years since the release of Hopes and Fears.
Co-op Live posted: “Let’s do this! Less than 48 hours until we kick off our full opening season.
“Our scheduled shows with @aboogievsartist, @oliviarodrigo and @keaneofficial are going ahead.
“Ticket holders can expect an email with everything they need to know about this week’s events to land in your inboxes tomorrow!”
Fans have breathed a sigh of relief at the news, with one person writing: “YAY THANK GOD OMG THIS IS AMAZING WAS LITERALLY HAVJNG A MENTAL BREAKDOWN BOUT OLIVIA BEING CANCELLED.”
Another commented: “THANK GOD!!! 4th mayyyy.”
Someone else posted: “IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHH I’VE BEEN NERVOUS ALL WEEK BUT NOW I KNOW ITS GONNA BE FINE AHHH.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans are BIG believers in an all-caps comment, clearly.
Co-op Live will open in Manchester on Wednesday 1 May.
It’s going to be worth the wait, we’re pretty sure…