RYANAIR has been banned from advertising its hostess calendar in Spain on the grounds of sexism.

A Malaga court ruled it was unlawful and unfair to use women as mere objects, and has ordered the budget airline not to repeat the campaign in the future.

The case was brought to court by a consumer association in December 2012, which declared the calendar contravened Article 3 of the General Law on Advertising.

In the view of the judge, the human female body was being used as a tool to sell air tickets.

The court did agree that there was no doubt as to the charitable purposes of the calendar, with proceeds going to a Polish association dedicated to the care of children with cystic fibrosis, but, according to the court, it is also ‘obvious’ this element ‘masks’ a marketing campaign on behalf of the company, for their commercial gain.

Ryanair, who have the right to appeal, issued a statement saying: “We have instructed our lawyers to appeal this ruling regarding last year’s (2013) cabin crew charity calendar, which raised over €100,000 for a Polish charity, the TVN Foundation, to help sick children in Poland”.

The company also pointed out that it is the advertising of the calendar that has been banned, not the calendar itself.

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