Video footage exposes fake photo of sleeping Ryanair crew
Ryanair has released CCTV footage that confirms that a photo of its cabin crew ‘sleeping’ on the floor in Malaga Airport was staged.
The photo had sparked condemnation of Ryanair after it was circulated online by crew to support their claim that they were badly treated by the airline, which failed to provide them with accommodation when staff were stranded due to a storm.
However, CCTV footage shows them getting up from chairs and lying on a floor for a photograph.
In a statement, Ryanair said: "This picture is clearly staged and no crew ‘slept on the floor’. Due to storms in Porto a number of flights diverted to Malaga and as this was a Spanish national holiday, hotels were fully booked.
"The crew spent a short period of time in the crew room before being moved to a VIP lounge, and returned to Porto the next day (none of the crew operated flights)."
Portuguese union official Fernando Gandra told The Irish Times that although the 24 crew were moved to a lounge, they were not provided with refreshments and were forced to share eight chairs to try to get some sleep.
"I’m not going to comment on whether it was staged or not," he told the newspaper, "only the people who were there can make that statement.
"The only place they had available was the floor… The point is that Ryanair did not give their crews any place to rest."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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