Budget airline criticised for ad.

Byline: Steve Tucker

CARDIFF airport's budget airline was today criticised by the advertising watchdog for making cheap flight claims.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said a poster for bmibaby, British Midland's no-frills carrier, was ``misleading''.

The poster boasted one-way fares to Dublin or Murcia, in Spain, costing from pounds 25 including taxes, when booked on the internet.

The bottom of the advert, however, stated: ``from East Midlands Airport, book online or call''.

A member of the public who wanted to fly to Murcia contacted the ASA after telephoning bmibaby and being told details about the advertised price were only available through the company's website.

British Midland confirmed the pounds 25 fare was only available on-line, and that prices booked by telephone started at pounds 30.

After carrying out an investigation, the ASA concluded the poster failed to make the distinction clear and upheld the complaint.

It asked the airline to change the wording and told it to contact the advertising body set-up to prevent companies breaking the industry's code of practice.

The decision is the second complaint about bmibaby upheld in the last three months.

On the previous occasion it was criticised for an e-mail advertisement which did not make clear travellers had to buy a return flight to get the quoted price. Complaints to the ASA about nofrills airlines have risen to 21 so far this year, up from 16 in the whole of last year.

Bmibaby arrived at Cardiff International Airport last month with a promise of cheap flights to a number of destinations including Malaga, Milan, Alicante, Geneva and Edinburgh.

Within one week of flights going on sale, more than 10,000 tickets were sold. The flights begin operating in October.