easyJet passengers were shocked to see backless plane seats on their European flight with the budget airline today. A photo from the cabin shows a female passenger perched on a seat at the end of a row with no backs. Only the base of the seats and the armrests remain. The passenger who snapped the photo took to Twitter to complain to easyJet about the seat. “#easyjet beats @Ryanair to have backless seats,” flier Matthew Harris tweeted. “This is flight 2021 Luton to Geneva. How can this be allowed?”
Harris added: “One has to wonder how safe the rest of the plane was. This was her seat.
“The lady was moved to a spare seat once the flight was fully boarded. Not sure what would have happened if the flight was full.”
Many Twitter users shared their shock at the photo but easyJet has clarified what was actually happening in the photo.
The airline explained that no one was permitted to sit or travel in the seat and the passenger had only sat in the seat for the sake of the photo. The flight departed with five spare seats onboard.
An easyJet spokeswoman told Express.co.uk: “No passengers were permitted to fly in these seats as they were inoperative awaiting repair.
“Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all safety guidelines.”
Twitter users made the most of the unusual sight to poke fun at budget airlines and their charges.
“Hi Matthew! Did you forget to pay the new EasySitting surcharge of just £49?” one person joked.
“Also, I hope you remembered your EasyDisembarking charge, so they let you use the steps at your destination?”
“Entitled consumer, demanding they get a whole seat!” another quipped. A third posted: “Never mind the woman’s backrest! Where did the guy behind put his two for £8 miniature Stellas and his £4.50 mezze snack box?”
In further easyJet news, police were today forced to escort two “aggressive” passengers off an EasyJet flight after it was diverted due to an altercation on the plane.
The Gibraltar flight was diverted after two passengers allegedly became aggressive towards the crew members and landed in Bordeaux, France where Police boarded to escort the two individuals off the plane.
Video footage recorded by other passengers shows other holiday-goers cheering and applauding as the pair are escorted off.
An EasyJet spokesman added: “We can confirm that flight EZY8905 from London Gatwick to Gibraltar was required to divert to Bordeaux and met by police as a result of two passengers behaving disruptively.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers an crew is always our highest priority.
“Our cabin crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
“Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour towards our staff.”
After videos of the incident surfaced many called for there to be stricter punishment from airlines and countries to act as a deterrent.
One viewer commented: “We urgently need a deterrent for this sort of behaviour.”