Passengers could be flying on Ryanair for free in the very near future

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary says it could happen in “the next five to ten years”.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has spoken of the possibility of passengers flying with Ryanair for free “in the next five to ten years”. The airline is already renowned for offering cheap air fares and O’Leary says he can envisage a day when passengers will fly for free and Ryanair will make their money from sharing revenues with airports their passengers pass through. O’Leary was speaking at the Airport Operators Association conference in London on Tuesday and is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “The challenge for us in the future is to keep driving air fares down. “I have this vision that in the next five to 10 years that the air fares on Ryanair will be free, in which case the flights will be full, and we will be making our money out of sharing the airport revenues; of all the people who will be running through airports, and getting a share of the shopping and the retail revenues at airports.” Ryanair recently announced the creation of 3,500 jobs – including one they themselves titled as ‘the worst job in Ireland’ – as part of a major recruitment drive and also revealed plans to take delivery of 50 new planes over the next 12 months. Elaborating on the possibility of Ryanair passengers flying for free in the near future, O’Leary said that the process that could eventually lead to that happening is already underway. “I think it will happen,” O’Leary added. “It just won’t happen at Heathrow or those big hub airports. But most of the other airports who are looking for big traffic growth, that process is already starting to happen, lowering airport fees and some of the charges. “If (air passenger duty) is gone: at many airports I’m paying more than £20 (approximately €23) already with APD and fees, if I start getting that back, why not? I’m doing seat sales this week at £4 (€5) and I’m paying the £13 (€15) APD – I’m paying you to fly with me. “Instead of promotional tickets being £9 (€10.50) or £5 (€6) they will be free.” If free fares do happen, we'll see you at the check-in queue...