Ryanair Will Offer In-flight Gambling Games

Besides winning money in casinos or online gambling sites it will soon be possible to win money while flying.

Ryanair, an Irish airline company, has formed a gaming partnership with online bingo group Jackpotjoy.com which will, by mid-2007, enable them to offer in-flight entertainment in the form of gambling.

Passengers will be able to play bingo and other forms of gambling games, which the company foresees will increase their income considerably. This follow Ryanair's scrapped project last year, to introduce portable entertainment units which would have allowed passengers to watch movies and television shows.

Ryanair's new revenue source is supposed to make "millions upon millions", according to the company's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary. Other in-flight services like car renting and hotel booking are crucial for Ryanair's growth and success and are believed to one day surpass the revenue from ticket sales themselves, which might someday enable passengers to fly for free.

Such businesses generated €259 million in 2006 (until March) for Ryanair, which was 15.3 percent of the company's total revenues of €1.69 billion. According to O'Leary, it expected to increase to 20 percent by 2011.