Budget airline Transavia has been fined €46,000 for using interns to stand in for paid air stewards.

Workplace inspectors began an investigation last year into reports that 60 students from five different colleges were working in staff positions over a four-month period from February 2022.

The interns were deployed as air stewards on the same terms and conditions as trained staff.

The inspectorate ruled that that constituted a working relationship and the students should be paid at the same rate as their peers, including holiday entitlement and other benefits.

The total bill for compensating the interns amounts to €623,000.

A spokesman for Transavia, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM, said: “We have taken note of the [inspectors’] report and will consider its findings carefully.”