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The founder of Ryanair Michael O'Leary, the second biggest international carrier in the world, announced on Thursday that there were plans to introduce in-flight gambling by 2007 which may prompt it to offer free tickets if it worked out well.
Mr. O’Leary opined that such novel formats could change the image of airlines, as he added: “The image of airlines today is high-cost, rip-off, poor food. I don't see how onboard gambling could make that worse.”
Currently, services including car hire, hotels, travel insurance and in-flight sales make up for about 20 per cent of Ireland based- Ryanair's £950 million turnover. It also accounted for 16 per cent of its £200 million annual profits. Mr O'Leary foresaw rise in non-ticket revenues with introduction of more in-flight entertainment.
Ryanair is planning to launch a gambling service in the next 12 to 18 months with a payment system that would allow it to debit a passenger's credit card before the plane lands. Passengers would be able gamble using the mobile phones supplied by the airlines.
Also, up its sleeve are plans to introduce onboard computer games which could be played by children for a nominal charge from their seats.
The airline’s experiment last year to show cartoons and Hollywood blockbusters using hand-held personal videos didn’t take off as there were only a few takers.
Mr O'Leary wanted to partner with a few online gaming operators for this initiative in the next two to three months. The trials are expected to be launched by 2006 summer. Even if 25 to 30 per cent of passengers enjoyed this service, he predicted a rise in revenues worth £50 million.
He disagreed with the view that it would tarnish their airlines image. He also said that it didn’t matter if this idea annoyed environmentalists who wanted a carbon tax to be imposed on aviation fuel.
Ryanair is to announce its earnings on November 7 for the half year to September 30. O’ Leary was very confident about the profits it would rake in.
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