VietJet sold 'Green Friday' flights — Singapore's ad body called it greenwashing

For Black Friday 2024, VietJet dressed its sale in green: 'Green Friday', with tickets from US$64 and a promise that flying VietJet meant 'contributing to a greener future'. The airline's fleet was 'modern, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly', it said — Airbus A320s with drag-reducing sharklets, sustainable aviation fuel, paperless e-tickets and online check-in, even bamboo utensils in business class, all on the road to net zero by 2050.

A Singapore resident complained, and the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore found the claims could not be substantiated. The sharklet savings applied only to particular aircraft and engine combinations — a part of the fleet, not the fleet the ads described. E-tickets and online check-in are industry standard, not a green edge. 'Environmentally friendly' stood unqualified, and VietJet produced no data on the campaign's outcomes; its defence — that SAF can cut emissions up to 80% and two SAF-powered flights flew in October 2024 — did not back the campaign's overall claims.

ASAS banned the campaign in a ruling published 14 January 2025 — only the second greenwashing ban in its history, after Prism+ in 2023. Its chairman Bryan Tan put the standard plainly: words like 'eco', 'carbon neutral' and 'sustainable' must be backed by verifiable evidence.