Virgin Atlantic's Flight 100 sustainable fuel ad claim banned by ASA

The advert, which aired last November, flagged the airline’s plan to operate a flight from London to New York powered entirely by non-standard jet fuel.

It said: “On the 28 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.” 

The flight was a one-off after the Department for Transport laid down a challenge to the UK’s airline sector to operate the first net zero transatlantic flight.

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

Complaints upheld

In reply, Virgin said the ad’s wording mirrored the terms used by the DfT in its competition invitation.

Virgin told the ASA it did not think listeners would understand the ad to mean the fuel used for Flight 100 was derived from completely sustainable sources, did not generate CO2 or other emissions and that over its full lifecycle had no adverse environmental impacts. 

In its submission to the ASA, the airline said the ad did not claim the fuel was 100% sustainable, arguing it only described how the flight was powered exclusively by sustainable aviation fuel. 

Virgin undertook a survey following the complaints, which found “the majority” understood the 100% claim related to the proportion of sustainable fuel used.