Sarkozy suing airline over ad

PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend, Carla Bruni, are suing low-cost airline Ryanair after it used a photo of the couple in an ad without their permission, their lawyer said Wednesday.

The ad published Monday in the French daily Le Parisien shows the smiling couple with a bubble coming from Bruni saying, “With Ryanair, all my family can come to my wedding.”

Sarkozy, 53, has hinted that a wedding with Bruni, 40, is in the future, though the couple have not announced a date.

Sarkozy and Bruni filed separate lawsuits against Ryanair.

Sarkozy is asking for one symbolic euro in damages. Bruni, a former model, is demanding $740,000 because that is the average sum she receives for the use of her image in France, said the couple’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog.

Ryanair Holdings PLC has said the ad was a “humorous comment on a matter of great public interest in France. We apologize sincerely for any offense caused.”