Ryanair Plans For Online Casino
Published: Monday, October 17, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
RYANAIR PLANS FOR ONLINE CASINO
Internet gambling possible by Christmas
For some time Ryanair has mooted plans to operate an online casino facility,
and this week it appears that real progress is being made on revitalising this
ambitious project.
The airline has revealed that it is now set to launch an online casino that will
operate in tandem with a new in-flight entertainment service. The facility is
designed to give a further boost to the airline's fast-growing ancillary revenues.
Plans are at an advanced stage to launch the virtual casino before Christmas on
the Ryanair.com website. The website has massive traffic - chief executive Michael
O'Leary recently told investors that the site had 15 million unique users per
month, and that Ryanair was the fifth most recognisable company brand name on
internet search engine Google.
He added that the company was seeking to leverage off the website's scale to enhance
revenue streams including gambling, travel insurance, car rental, hostels, online
advertising and car parking.
Ryanair, which will be partnered by an as yet unidentified technology provider
in the gaming sector, is not expected to contribute any capital towards the project.
Instead, it will provide distribution, steering a portion of its massive online
traffic onto the site and taking a percentage of the business that is generated.
The low-fares airline is also expected to introduce gaming as a new onboard entertainment
service. Earlier this year, Ryanair abandoned the in-flight entertainment it introduced
in late 2004 after a slower than expected pick-up, but management is now more
confident that gaming will be a bigger attraction than movies.
In the current year Ryanair will carry over 35 million passengers on 266 low fare
routes across 21 European countries. The company has 12 European bases and a fleet
of over 100 brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with firm orders for a further
125, which will be delivered over the next seven years. These additional aircraft
will allow Ryanair to double in size to over 70 million passengers a year by 2012.
