A viral photo shows an EasyJet passenger in a row of seats with no backs - but the airline says the photo was staged and nobody flew in the seats

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A view down the aisle from a seat on an EasyJet plane.

• A photo of an EasyJet passenger flying in a backless seat went viral and caused outrage on Tuesday.
• However, the airline says the image was misleading as the seats were out of order and nobody used them.
• A photo showing a woman in one of the seats, on a flight from London to Geneva, was posted to Twitter  by tech startup CEO Matthew Harris.
• EasyJet spokeswoman Katie Kershaw told Business Insider: "No passengers were permitted to sit in these seats as they were inoperative awaiting repair."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A viral photo showing an EasyJet passenger in a row of seats with their backs removed is misleading, the airline has said.

An image, posted by tech startup CEO Matthew Harris on Tuesday, showed a woman using a seat on flight EZY98HD from London's Luton Airport to Geneva, Switzerland. He asked "How can this be allowed?"

In a response to questions by Business Insider, EasyJet said that the seats were not in use and were awaiting repair.

All passengers used seats with functional backs, a spokeswoman said. The flight was not fully booked, and had five free seats, an airline source said.

The conclusion is that the photograph was staged, since nobody was assigned the seats in question.

"No passengers were permitted to sit in these seats as they were inoperative awaiting repair," EasyJet spokeswoman Katie Kershaw told Business Insider in a statement.

Read more: Video shows the terrifying moment a British Airways flight filled with smoke while approaching its destination

"Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all safety guidelines."

Thomson Reuters

An EasyJet aircraft at Cointrin airport in Geneva.

Harris later tweeted to say the woman in the viral photograph "was moved to a spare seat once the flight was fully boarded."

Read more: Flight attendants reveal 10 things they notice on a plane that you probably miss

"Not sure what would have happened if the flight was full," he added.

The plane landed at 10:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday.