Advertising Standards Agency confirms that Heathrow and Gatwick aren’t actually in London
A complaint was made (it is not clear by whom) against an advert by London City Airport in June 2016. The advert stated that “Business or pleasure, time is on your side when you fly from London City Airport … Fly with British Airways or Flybe from Edinburgh, or from Glasgow with British Airways, to the only airport actually located in the city of London….” etc. The complaint was its claim that London City is the only airport in the city of London. It is, of course, not in the square mile of the City of London. The ASA accepted that “the city of London” was intended to refer to inner London, as opposed to the “square mile” City of London. City airport has an E16 postcode, which Heathrow has a TW6 postcode. The ASA said the primary message of the ad was the time that could be saved by flying from or to London City Airport, which they accepted. They therefore said the ad would not mislead, dismissed the complaint, and it was not in breach of advertising codes. Many airports call themselves “London” airports, regardless of the length of journey to get to them from central London.
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Advertising Standards Agency confirms that Heathrow and Gatwick aren’t actually in London
By Oliver Smith, digital travel editor (Telegraph)
4 JANUARY 2017
London City Airport has been cleared over claims made in a radio advert that it is the only airport “actually in London”.
The commercial, which aired last summer, was called misleading in a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency. But City Airport successfully defended it, saying that the claim was based on the fact that it lies within the London postal district (its post code is E16 2PX). Heathrow, on the other hand, while part of Greater London, uses a Twickenham postcode (TW6 2GW).
Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton, the three other large airports that serve the capital, lie in West Sussex, Essex and Bedfordshire, respectively (though are still permitted to use “London” in the their names).
Which airport is really in London? | Distance by car from Charing Cross to…
London City – 8.5 miles / 33 mins
London Heathrow – 19.9 miles / 46 mins
London Gatwick – 27.8 miles / 1 hr 24 mins
London Luton – 34 miles / 1 hr 6 mins
London Stansted – 40.7 miles / 1 hr 5 mins
London Southend – 41.7 miles / 1 hr 14 mins
London Oxford – 61.8 miles / 1 hr 31 mins
A spokeswoman for Heathrow told Campaign, the advertising industry magazine, that it would not challenge the ASA’s ruling but maintained that it was the airport best connected with the capital.
Heathrow Express services from Paddington take 15 minutes to reach Heathrow terminals 2 and 3.
“Business or pleasure, time is on your side when you fly from London City Airport… the only airport actually located in the city of London,” read the original radio ad. “Get closer to the heart of London. From landing to the City or the West End in under 40 minutes. London City Airport. Fast, punctual and actually in London.”
Stansted and Luton are sometimes criticised by travellers for carrying “London” in their titles, leading some overseas visitors to believe they are closer to the city centre than they really are.
Stansted is, by car, 40.7 miles from Charing Cross, a journey that takes around an hour and five minutes, according to Google Maps. Luton is a shade closer, at 34 miles.
Even further from the city centre is London Southend Airport, at 41.7 miles by car – a journey that takes around 1 hour 14 minutes. But most misleading of all is surely Kidlington Airport, which bills itself as “London Oxford” despite being 61.8 miles from Charing Cross.
There are more inconvenient airports beyond our shores. Frankfurt Hahn Airport is 78.3 miles from the finance capital, Oslo-Torp Airport (favoured by Ryanair) is 73.3 miles from Oslo, while the fastest journey by car from Paris Vatry Airport to the city centre is a 131.7-mile schelp.
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ASA Ruling on London City Airport Ltd
London City Airport Ltd
City Aviation House
Royal Docks
London
E16 2PB
Date:
4 January 2017
Media:
Internet (on own site)
Sector:
Holidays and travel
Number of complaints:
1
Agency:
Bygraves Bushell Valladares & Sheldon Ltd
Complaint Ref:
A16-346414
Ad
An ad for London City Airport, played on 7 June 2016 on the online stream of a London radio station stated, “Business or pleasure, time is on your side when you fly from London City Airport … Fly with British Airways or Flybe from Edinburgh, or from Glasgow with British Airways, to the only airport actually located in the city of London. Get closer to the heart of London. From landing to the City or the West End in under 40 minutes. London City Airport. Fast, punctual and actually in London …”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claims relating to the location of London City Airport were misleading.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
London City Airport Ltd said the reference in the ad to “the city of London” was intended to refer to inner London, as opposed to the “square mile” City of London (which listeners would know to be a very small and highly developed area where it would be virtually impossible for an airport to exist) or to Greater London, and they believed that was how it would be understood by listeners. The claim therefore excluded those airports within Greater London and the Home Counties which also served London. They pointed out that Heathrow Airport’s postcode (TW6) was not considered to be within the inner London postal area whereas their postcode (E16) was within the London postal area. They said London City Airport was the only airport with an inner London postcode.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted that the ad referred to London City Airport as “the only airport actually located in the city of London” and “actually in London”. However, the primary message of the ad was the time that could be saved by flying from or to London City Airport. We acknowledged that the most time efficient way to travel would be highly dependent on an individual’s starting or arrival location within London, and the transport links available to them to access different airports. However, we considered consumers would understand from the ad that it may be advantageous for them to fly from or to London City Airport, due to its central London location.
While we understood that no airports were in the central London local authority district of the City of London, and that London City Airport was not the only airport within Greater London (Heathrow being the other), we noted that it was the most central airport servicing London, and the only one that might reasonably be described as being within ’inner’ London. For that reason, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
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