Ryanair has released footage showing what a group of its flight attendants really did in the moments before they posed for an image protesting their “disgusting” treatment by the airline. But the bizarre move may end up backfiring on the carrier. The airline very publicly hit back at the crew after the image — showing six crew members sleeping on the floor of an office at Spain’s Malaga Airport on Sunday morning after being left stranded by a storm — went viral. EGYPT AIR PULLS MAGAZINE AFTER BIZARRE DREW BARRYMORE ARTICLE Eight pilots and 16 flight attendants claim they were forced to stay in a small room with only eight seats from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. They also allege there was no access to food or water. So they snapped the photo in protest. The image, which first appeared on a Facebook page called Ryanair Must Change, was later shared on Twitter by user Jim Atkinson and was retweeted nearly 2000 times. The airline on Wednesday released footage from inside the room which shows the crew gathering together and then laying on the floor to pose for the photograph. Once the snap has been taken, they get up off the floor and walk over to office seats — or walk towards the door. Ryanair claims it proves the photo was “faked." Ryanair even took to Twitter to slam the crew, alleging the footage “exposes” the truth about the situation — that it was all a lie. Their tweet said: “Ryanair exposes fake photo of cabin crew sleeping in crew room.” However, the move by the airline has left many scratching their heads, seeing as the image was allegedly taken in protest. BRITISH AIRWAYS PASSENGER CHARGED WITH SLAPPING TRAVELER, EXPOSING GENITALS ON FLIGHT Jim Atkinson wrote in response to Ryanair’s tweet: “Everyone already knew it was a protest picture you knuckleheads. The fact remains: You stranded four crews in an airport terminal for the night and made no discernible attempt to find them proper lodging or even food and water.” Another Twitter user wrote: “Thanks for the video @Ryanair @Ryanair_ES it will be used to demonstrate that crew were left in crew room seated on some chairs the whole night against FTL. @instrabajoyss This video also shows how the airline use confidential video of its workers abandoned in an office." Fellow Twitter user Evert van Zwol was also perplexed: “And then back to their ‘comfortable’ chairs (how many?) for their well-deserved sleep? What is the message @Ryanair? Crew room good accommodation for layover? Started disciplinary procedures already no doubt? Spy cams in every crew room?” Twitter user Adam Mark Smith, a union delegate, wrote: “Shows just how many crew you left stranded without any support from the company, exactly in line with what the Portuguese cabin crew union reported. So far, they are credible and Ryanair are not.” When the photo started going off on social media, Peter Bellow, operations manager of the airline, wrote on Twitter: “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, this version of events was dismissed by user Jim Atkinson, who said, “The pilots aren’t buying it,” along with an image appearing to show a text exchange about the plethora of available hotels in the area. Fernando Gandra, a delegate for SITCPLA, the Portuguese union for airline employees, also wasn’t convinced about this version of events. “In the end, they were informed it was impossible to find any hotels. Friday was a bank holiday in Spain and the duty manager said all hotels were full …Maybe all hotels around Málaga Airport and the city were full, but for sure it would have been possible to accommodate these crews in different hotels, even ones far away from the airport.” The image has been widely condemned on social media, with those on Twitter using the hashtag #RyanairMUSTchange. At the time, a Ryanair spokesman dismissed the photograph and claimed the crew spent just a short time in the room before they were put up in a VIP lounge. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS The staff were reportedly flown to Porto, Portugal, a few hours later, but were made to wait on board for nearly three hours while a captain was flown in from London to operate the flight. This article originally appeared on News.com.au.<doc-sep>European budget airline Ryanair has been getting some severe criticism after a photo circulated online of one flight crew that allegedly was “forced” to sleep on the floor in Spain. According to Travel Pulse, a flight going to Porto, Portugal had to be diverted to Malaga, Spain due to Tropical Storm Leslie on Saturday night. A photo posted on Sunday to the Facebook group, Ryanair MUST Change, and then later on Twitter, shows at least six crew members sleeping on the floor due to the minimal availability of places to rest. The negative social media response took off quickly over the weekend. Both Facebook and Twitter users were sharing the photo and criticizing the airline. According to another Facebook post on the same page, the Sindicato Nacional do Pessoal de Voo da Aviação Cívil (SNPVAC) clarified in a press release that four Ryanair flights destined for Porto ended up in Malaga, resulting in 24 crew members (8 pilots and 16 cabin crew) being “placed in a room, without the minimum rest facilities, where the crew that is based on that airport perform their briefings and where Ryanair has their Malaga offices.” Ryanair crew member Credit: Getty Images According to the SNPVAC, the crew was there from 1:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. local time “without access to food, drinks and even a place to sit down, as there were only 8 seats available for the 24 crew.” It was around 6 a.m. the crew were moved to an airport lounge, but were still not given access to food or drink. Around 1:35 p.m. local time, Ryanair performed a non-commercial flight to Porto with only the 24 crew members on board. SNPVAC added in the post, “It is regrettable and inconceivable that, in the 21st century, we observe this kind of events where we can verify that Ryanair operates without any respect for their employees and their customers, who were also left stranded in the airport terminal, in the highly regulated aviation sector.” Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer, Peter Bellew, said the crew was moved to a VIP lounge since “all hotels were completely booked out in Malaga.” Later, Ryanair allegedly called the photo “staged,” according to Travel Pulse. The airline posted a surveillance video of crew members taking the photo as well, in order to discredit them. However, regardless of whether the photo was “staged,” U.K. website, Aviation Analyst, posits that Bellew may have misspoke when he said that all hotels were booked in Malaga, saying that “There are at least 400 hotels in and around the main city of Malaga, City, with a further 1,500 properties within 20 kilometres of the airport. Furthermore, it’s low-season in Southern Spain, and most hotel occupancy rates are at 50% (half-empty) as is normal for this time of year.” Response on social media to the surveillance video did not turn out entirely on the side of Ryanair.<doc-sep>
Ryanair has released video it claims exposes a viral photograph of cabin crew sleeping on an airport floor. 24 crew members were stranded in Malaga Airport at the weekend after their Porto, Portugal-bound flights were diverted due to a storm. Ex-Ryanair pilot Jim Atkinson hit out at the airline on Twitter, sharing a picture purporting to show six staff sleeping on the floor of the crew room. Many users were quick to tag the Irish airline branding it as 'disgusting' and 'outrageous', the Liverpool Echo reports . The SNPVAC union, which represents Portuguese airline crews, says the photo shows the conditions that crew "had no choice" but to stay in. Ryanair apologised to employees earlier this week for failing to find accommodation for the staff but also claimed the picture was "staged". Now the airline has publicly posted footage they claim exposes the photo. The video posted to Ryanair's Twitter account is titled 'Ryanair exposes fake photo of cabin crew sleeping in crew room. Watch video here'. What appears to be CCTV footage shows cabin crew going to lie down, whilst a crew member takes a photo. After the photo is taken, the cabin crew stand up and walk away. The photo that had gone viral was originally posted on the Ryanair Must Change Facebook page. Mr Atkinson had tweeted it later and said: “This is a Ryanair 737 crew based in Portugal, stranded in Malaga, Spain a couple of nights ago due to storms. “They are sleeping on the floor of the Ryanair crew room. RYR is earning €1.25 billion this year but will not put stranded crews in a hotel for the night.” Ryanair’s chief operations officer Peter Bellew responded, claiming that all hotel rooms in the city were booked out and the crew were moved to a VIP lounge. He said: “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.” When contacted by the Irish Mirror for comment earlier this week, Ryanair claimed the photo had been "staged". In a statement, the airline said: "This picture is clearly staged and no crew 'slept on the floor'. "Due to storms in Porto (13 Oct) 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)." The Liverpool Echo has contacted SNPVAC union for a comment.