If your flight was free, would a flight delay be acceptable?

The low fare airline claims that there is a real prospect of the airline enabling its passengers to fly free of charge.

Bearing that in mind, would you, if your flight was delayed, be less inclined to complain or attempt to claim compensation?

Never one to shy away from bold statements, Chief executive, Michael O'Leary said at a conference in London, "I have this vision that in the next five to ten years, the air fares on Ryanair will be free."

As it stands, carriers like Ryanair and easyJet, to mention just two, are famous for low-cost airfares, with the former set to announce its latest deals for flights at as low as £4.

However feasible the move might be, it is far from simple, O'Leary suggest that by filling flights for free, airlines could take a percentage of revenue from the airports they serve. Ryanair believes that smaller airports with a focus on increasing capacity could be interested in this, as a significant rise in footfall could mean a significant rise in profit.

This would certainly require immense negotiation and cooperation from across the board, from Governments to Trades Unions and airports, many of which are privately owned and could be reluctant to share their loot.

The key sticking point to free fares is Air passenger duty. It has been mooted that it could be reduced significantly, but it would be required to be scrapped altogether if O'Leary wants to realise his dream of low fares to no fares. As it stands, APD can cost a passenger anywhere from £13 pounds to £78 depending on how far they are travelling.

In theory, it could be argued that when a low-cost airline offers flights for less than the sum of the APD, then, in turn, the airline is paying the passenger to fly. On top of that, if the flight was delayed by three or more hours, would you be comfortable claiming flight delay compensation?