Ryanair's Flight Attendant Calendar Has Too Many 'Sexual Connotations' For Spain

Bikini Bearing Flight Attendants Release Calendar

Ryanair has caused an uproar from some prude Spaniards upset about a calendar featuring flight attendants almost bearing it all. All photos by Ryanair.

A racy calendar featuring scantily clad flight attendants from Ryanair has caused quite a controversy in Spain after a court in the European nation upheld a ruling that the airline's advertisements had too many “sexual connotations.”

The Irish airline, which yearly puts a calendar of its sexiest stewardesses, was hit by a complaint from a Spanish consumer group. On Tuesday judge Amanda Cohen ruled that both the calendar and a web campaign to promote it broke advertising laws in Spain as they used the "female body as a mere object" to capture attention.

The campaign here was an "absolute disconnection between the image used and the product being promoted" and the campaign was "illegal, discriminatory and unfair,” Cohen said, according to The Guardian.

The low-cost airline has been producing these calendars since 2008 and the proceeds from their sales – about $13 each – goes to charity. The profit from this year’s edition, shot in Crete, will go to the UK-based Teenage Cancer Trust.

While Ryanair said that it plans to appeal the ruling, the Spanish controversy hasn’t hurt the sales of the calendar — the budget airline is reporting record sales for the 2014 edition.

“Once again, support for Ryanair’s Cabin Crew Charity Calendar has been a huge hit with over 5,000 calendars sold so far – as well as over 640,000 video views on YouTube,” Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said in a press release. “We encourage everyone to buy one of the few remaining copies for themselves.”