Low budget airline Ryanair has announced that it plans to stream movies and TV shows to phones and tablets and it may be provided to passengers without any extra cost.

Chief technology officer John Hurley said Ryanair might instead profit by adding adverts, paid for by businesses based in the cities being travelled to.

He added that trials were set to begin in the summer and is aimed at passengers on flights of more than two or three hours. However, they are not looking to offer full internet access.

Other airlines that offer this service include Norwegian Air, which has a movie-rental service and Lufthansa, which has the streaming service on 20 of its Airbus planes.

In a statement made by one expert they said: "If airlines can sell access to the latest movies or TV series that you might not otherwise be able to get for a decent price - and you're talking about hundreds of passengers on a flight and seven to eight flights a day on short-haul trips - then the airlines have to look at this seriously as they can't pass up the profit potential."