Claim third runway would not go ahead if it made airport noisier deemed "misleading"
An advert claiming that the third runway would not go ahead if it would make Heathrow a dirtier or noisier airport has been ruled as ‘misleading’ by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The advert was placed in newspapers by pro-expansion group Future Heathrow prior to the Government’s go ahead in January for the runway.
A spokesperson for the group claimed was the ad justified telling the BBC, "Over the last six years, the government has repeatedly stated that a third runway would have to meet specific environmental conditions. In particular, it would have to result in a Heathrow noise footprint no larger than with two runways in 2002, and that concentrations of nitrogen dioxide around Heathrow would have to be within the future EU limit."
A spokesperson for the ASA said, "We noted Future Heathrow and BAA firmly believed that the noise and air limits would not be breached, but considered that the evidence we had seen was not sufficient to justify an absolute claim that noise and pollution would not increase following the construction of a third runway."
The advert is no longer permitted to appear anywhere in its current format.
August 27, 2009