EasyJet have apologised after posting what many interpreted as a Holocaust-themed advert, enraging thousands.
The budget airline uploaded a tweet on April 7 featuring a flight number tattooed on a passenger’s arm. They captioned the post 'you never forget your first flight'.
The phrase 'Never forget' is widely used when discussing the horrors of the Nazi genocide during World War II.
Some have said the tattoo is also reminiscent of the serial numbers forcibly inked onto prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.
EasyJet bosses deleted the tweet within an hour and apologised for any unintentional offence caused.
A representative from EasyJet said on Tuesday: “While this is a genuine picture of a customer’s tattoo celebrating their first flight with us, we understand the concerns raised and as a result decided to remove the post.
"We are sorry for any offence unintentionally caused.”
The tweet was swiftly deleted but not before a flight enthusiast saved and re-shared the photo on the platform.
“No easyjet. Please no,” Jon Siva tweeted in response to the post, which quickly went viral.
One user responded: "WOW, my mouth dropped open. It's hard to imagine how this sort of thing gets posted from such a big brand account without at least someone along the way realising the significance of this imagery."
Another wrote: "Swiftly deleted as soon as they realised the significance of it. But it’s led me to honestly question how they vet and moderate their content."
A third said: "Yikes! You’d have thought at least one person who had seen this before letting it go live would know the significance of this."
During the Holocaust, Jewish and some non-Jewish prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp were tattooed with identification numbers on their left arm.
The tattoos would go on to scar survivors of the camp for life and became a symbol of the genocide. Around 6 million Jews died at the hands of Nazi Germany in the Holocaust between 1941 and 1945.
It is not the first time the company has apologised for a Holocaust-related gaffe.
In 2009, EasyJet's in-flight magazine featured a photo spread of fashion models posing against the backdrop of the famous memorial in Berlin.
Almost 300,000 copies of the magazine were withdrawn in the wake of outrage and the airline "profusely" apologised for the "inappropriate" photo shoot.
