This was published 6 years ago
Canadian man sues Sunwing Airlines for serving sparkling wine instead of Champagne
By Kylie McLaughlin
It's not Champagne unless it's from Champagne.Credit: Alamy
Sparkling wine is not the same as Champagne, and never the twain shall meet.
As was pointed out by a Canadian traveller, who is suing a tiny budget airline after they served him a glass of sparkling wine instead of authentic Champagne, the BBC reports.
The man was flying to Cuba on Sunwing Airlines, the unsuspecting low cost airline hurled into the spotlight after advertising a 'champagne toast' on board its route to Cuba.
Canadian budget airline Sunwing.Credit: Shutterstock
Sunwing, based in Canada, flies to destinations in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
See also: The surprising drink order that annoys flight attendants the most
While most travellers on board low-cost Sunwing would not be expecting the real deal, Daniel Macduff took offence to the erroneous advertising and decided to pursue the matter in court.
"It's not about the pettiness of champagne versus sparkling wine," Macduff's lawyer, Sébastien Paquette, said. "It's the consumer message behind it." Uh-huh.
Unfortunately for Sunwing, an additional 1,600 people agree with Macduff, and will potentially join the suit.
Sunwing told the BBC that the use of "champagne" in the marketing was meant to "denote a level of service in reference to the entire hospitality package".
"Sunwing has always been proud to invest in experience-enhancing features for our customers," Sunwing said in a statement. "We consider any legal action relating to the marketing of this service to be frivolous and without merit."
While sparkling wine can be just as good, if not better, Champagne can only come from the Champagne region in northeastern France.
The airline have since dropped the offer on its route to Cuba.
See also: Flight attendant caught pouring Champagne back into bottle
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