RYANAIR was yesterday banned from claiming that its London to Brussels flights are faster, cheaper and more reliable than Eurostar.The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that Ryanair breached its rules in a national press advert which compared its one-hour-10-minute flight time from London Stansted to Charleroi to the two-hour-11-minute train trip.

RYANAIR was yesterday banned from claiming that its London to Brussels flights are faster, cheaper and more reliable than Eurostar.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that Ryanair breached its rules in a national press advert which compared its one-hour-10-minute flight time from London Stansted to Charleroi to the two-hour-11-minute train trip.

The ASA said this was misleading as transfers to and from the centre of London and Brussels would add one hour 45 minutes to the total journey time.

A second complaint by Eurostar relating to Ryanair's claim to be cheaper was also upheld, on the grounds that the cost of transfers between airport and city centre should also be taken into account.

And the ASA also upheld a third complaint, relating to the airline's claim that its London to Brussels flights were “more punctual”, accepting evidence from Eurostar in favour of the figure quoted by Ryanair which came from a two-year-old BBC website report.

Ryanair argued that its advert made clear which airports it used and that its comparison of journey times was valid. It added that neither its fare nor Eurostar's took account of other travel costs associated with the journey.