Ryanair begins its new in-flight television advertising service today, aimed at the 250,000 passengers the airline hopes to carry over the Christmas period. The company behind the service, Lansboro International, says the project has "huge potential" and hopes it would be made permanent on all Ryanair flights.

The service will consist of several individual advertisements, an introduction to Ryanair services and an entertainment segment, all shown on five screens on each aircraft.

Ryanair will receive a "sizeable" commission on the advertising revenue generated by the service.

Among the advertisers included in the December service is the Fitzgerald pub group and Examiner Publications.

The managing director of Lansboro, Mr Eugene Grey, said the company was delighted with the level of interest shown in the medium. He said targets for the December service had been exceeded by 16 per cent. In its early stages, he added, over £1 million could be generated.

The advertising, according to Mr Grey, will be "unobtrusive" to the passenger and will instead be a "entertaining and informative magazine programme".

He added that the service is unique in Europe, where in-flight advertising services are only available on long-haul flights.

Mr Grey says 78 per cent of Ryanair's passengers fall into the high-spending AB and C1 market research categories considered attractive by advertisers.

A 10-second spot on the service costs £850, a 30-second spot will cost £1,500, while a 60second spot is priced at £2,500. Lansboro now intends to strongly market the service in Britain, where the potential advertising revenues are much larger. It will open an office in Kent in January of next year.

Lansboro International is a division of the Communications Group of Ireland, a communications agency providing consultancy work in public relations, event management, multimedia and corporate training and development.