Michael O'Leary promises a bright future for in-flight gamblers

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said he believed mid-air gambling would escape government restrictions.

"I don't know who would stop you. It is like duty free; you are in international waters," he said.

Gambling firms are reported to have expressed an interest, although no talks are currently under way.

Airspace

The airline is hoping to adapt its in-flight entertainment system, which displays films on individual laptop-sized screens, so that passengers would also be able to gamble with credit cards.

Mr O'Leary said the commercial potential of the scheme was "enormous."

Ryanair already generates a proportion of its revenues by charging for extras, such as drinks, meals and films, which are offered free of charge on full-service airlines.

Unlike many European airlines, Ryanair has not added a surcharge to ticket prices this year in order to offset a sharp rise in fuel costs.

However, lawyers said Ryanair's aircraft, which fly exclusively to short-haul European destinations, would escape gambling restrictions only during the brief periods when they were not in national airspace.

"It may be rather difficult to do this sort of thing over land within Europe," Julian Harris of London-based gaming law experts Harris Hagan told BBC News.

The airline, Europe's biggest low-cost carrier, on Tuesday said half year profits rose by a better-than expected 18% to 200m euros (138.9m, $255.1m).