The ruling followed a complaint from its arch rival, easyJet

Ryanair ran newspaper adverts, which claimed it had "better punctuality" than Easyjet, citing the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in the advert.

Neither carrier is a member of the AEA and, Ryanair, whose main UK operation is based at Stansted, was told "not to misattribute statistics".

Ryanair apologised for the advert but noted the sole complainant was Easyjet.

The advert, with a headline "Why Pay More... To Arrive Later", contained a table of statistics but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said Ryanair had "misleadingly implied" these were from an independent source.

Question of distance

In a separate ruling, the ASA has upheld complaints from two members of the public over a Ryanair advert about new routes from Luton airport.

The airline had said Spanish destinations Girona and Reus served Barcelona.

The travellers, however, believed the two destinations were considerable distances from the city, the ASA said.

The body said airlines should not claim airports served specific cities unless those airports were listed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as doing so.

Dublin-based Ryanair said the references had been published in error.

Complaints from the same two people over claims in the advert that Orio al Serio, Ciampino, Treviso and Vasteras, respectively served Milan, Rome, Venice and Stockholm, were rejected because they were included in IATA listings.