Ryanair plans free wifi entertainment on flights
The budget airline says it plans to trial a new in-flight entertainment service on selected routes from Dublin this summer.
John Hurley, who was brought in as Ryanair chief technology officer last August, said that if the service was well received it would be rolled out across the airline's 300-plus plane fleet in 2016. Passengers however will not be able to surf the internet at will using the service, as it is only designed to offer the content Ryanair wants to offer.
Hurley said the free TV and film service - for flights lasting "more than two or three hours" - would be paid for through advertising. He said: "They'll watch a couple of adverts and will then have access to a selection of pre-recorded TV shows and films, which will be streamed through internal wifi."
Other low-cost airlines, such as Norwegian, already offer full free wifi on their services.
Ryanair previously announced a strategy to improve customers' online experience by investing in making its website and mobile apps more useful and easier to use, which it says has helped to increase profits.
Last July, the airline set up a new IT 'start-up' division, Ryanair Labs, which is responsible for the digital improvements.