Ryan Air Bingo Flying High
Published: Thursday, November 02, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
RYANAIR BINGO FLYING HIGH
Hanging around waiting for a flight? Get into an online bingo game.
The UK online bingo group Jackpotjoy.com has formed a partnership to present bingo for passengers using Ryanair flights.
The venture adds another new revenue stream to the Irish economy airline as it seeks to boost cash flow from areas other than ticket sales.
Ryanair said in a statement the deal would allow passengers to play bingo while booking their flights, car hire, and hotels on its website, Ryanair.com.
The airline did not disclose the financial terms of the deal or say what impact it was likely to have on its overall business.
In-flight sales and services such as hotel bookings and car hire are a key driver of growth for the group, which believes ancillary revenues will one day form such a big part of the business that passengers will effectively fly for free.
Such businesses generated Euro 259.2 million (GBP173 million) in turnover in the year to the end of March 2006, which was 15.3 percent of Ryanair's total revenues of Euro 1.69 billion.
The airline said in June it expected ancillary revenues to grow at a faster rate than ticket sales in the current business year and that it was close to finalising agreements to offer customers online gambling and in-flight mobile phone services.
In August the firm struck a deal with communications joint venture OnAir to fit aircraft with technology to allow passengers to use their phones onboard. Users will be charged by mobile service providers on their monthly bills and Ryanair will receive a commission from OnAir.
