An image of Ryanair staff sleeping on the floor of an airport was staged, it has been revealed.
ADVERTISEMENTAn image of Ryanair staff sleeping on the floor in Malaga airport during flight disruption caused by Storm Leslie was staged, according to the airline.
The photo had been shared online after Spanish union, Confederacion USO, tweeted the picture to denounce the company for not accommodating staff after flights were cancelled.
In response to one Twitter user who also posted the photo, Ryanair's CCO Peter Bellew tweeted: "Unfortunately. All hotels were completely booked out in Malaga. The storm created huge damage in Portugal. Later after this the crew moved to VIP lounge. Apologies to the crew we could not find accommodation."
However, on Wednesday Ryanair subsequently released CCTV footage of staff setting up the photo and shared it on Twitter.
"Ryanair exposes fake photo of cabin crew sleeping in crew room," the company said.
Euronews has contacted the Spanish union for comment, it is yet to respond.
However, SNPVAC, the union that represents Portuguese airline crew, issued a statement, shared to Facebook about the video.
It said: "Ryanair rushes to call it ‘staged’, but not before the Company’s Chief Operating Officer apologised to the crew via Tweeter.
"At least someone, with a big responsibility in the Airline, did the decent thing: APOLOGISED!
"However, Ryanair immediately came rushing through the chaos, claiming that it was all made up, all staged, all lies," it added.