Some 10 per cent of Ryanair's flights could be free within three years, according to chief executive Mr Micheal O'Leary. The free tickets would be funded by increased discretionary spending by passengers.
"Flights that cost £99 a few years ago now cost £9 so we believe that going from £9 to zero is not so big a jump," he said. With 9 million passengers travelling this year, increasing the average in-flight spend by £1 would generate £9 million and would fund 100,000 free flights. To obtain this money, Ryanair plans to put satellite television sets on the back of passengers' seats, offering a pay-per-view service.
Passengers will be offered a choice of five channels: cartoons, sport, live news, gambling and a more general-interest channel. Passengers would pay by credit card.