Ryanair's passengers would soon watch in-flight advertising on overhead televisions, the company said yesterday. The plan will be in place in time for the Christmas rush, when the airline is likely to carry more than 250,000 passengers.

Lansboro, the advertising company contracted to produce the in-flight video, described passengers as "a captive audience" and said that instead of headphones the sound accompanying the production would be broadcast on the airplane's public address system.

"But not at a loud level," said Mr Eugene Grey, Lansboro's managing director. "If you don't want to look at it, you can just sit back and read your book."

The video will change each month and will contain around five minutes of "entertainment" content, he added. The remaining 15 minutes will be taken up with promotion of Ryanair services and paid commercials.

However, Ryanair said there would be no non-commercial programming at all.

The airline also said that it had no policy on whether to allow filmed advertising for cigarettes and tobacco, which is not permitted in most European Union countries.

Mr Grey said that 78 per cent of Ryanair's passengers fell into the high-spending AB and C1 market research categories considered ideal by advertisers.

A 10-second spot on the video would cost £850, and could reach as many as 468,000 passengers. A 30-second spot will cost £1,500 and a 60-second is priced at £2,500.

He said he expected the project to be a success for the airline and that the idea was already proving attractive to many mainstream advertisers.

"This is a new, Irish advertising medium that is unique in so far as it encompasses a pan-European market enhanced by the fact that Ryanair now flies to the UK, France, Brussels and even Sweden," Mr Grey added.