http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1402809,00.html

Andrew Clark

Tuesday February 1, 2005

The Guardian

Ryanair`s passengers have turned up their noses at the chance to pay €7 (£5) for the privilege of watching a Hollywood movie or a cartoon on the low-cost airline`s flights.

The budget carrier admitted yesterday that an in-flight entertainment system has flopped in trials run since November on five aircraft based at Stansted airport.

It intends to cut the price from €7 to €5 to stimulate demand. If that fails, it will drop the system, which the Ryanair boss Michael O`Leary predicted would generate ``enormous sums of money``.

Ryanair disclosed the setback as it announced a fall in profits from €47.5m to €35m in the three months to December.

Howard Millar, deputy chief executive, said of the system: ``Initial trials haven`t been as good as we`d like.``

He said the cause was partly a lack of foreign-language films, as only half of Ryanair`s passengers speak English as a first language. He added that fewer children flew during the winter, which meant that cartoons had failed to take off.

Ryanair based the pay-as-you-go televisions on technology used in the US by budget carriers such as JetBlue. Other European airlines have been watching its progress keenly. Industry sources say that easyJet is planning a similar trial this year.

Profits at Ryanair were hit by a 68% leap in fuel costs to €72m. Ryanair`s passenger numbers increased by 13% to 6.9m. Average fares were broadly flat.