This is your captain speaking: Thank you for flying with Ryanair, we'll be cruising at 35,000ft and, er, the loo costs a quid

SPEND a penny, spend a pound. Ryanair, the no-frills airline which charges passengers for everything from checking in at airports to hold baggage, is considering imposing a £1 fee for using its aircraft toilets.

The move would take the Irish carrier's "only pay for what you use" policy to a new extreme, with officials even claiming some passengers were needlessly using the onboard facilities. It could also see some travellers paying more to use the toilet than for their flight.

The charge could help cut fares, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, said yesterday. He added: "One thing we have looked at in the past, and are looking at again, is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend £1 to spend a penny in future. I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than £1."

Officials at the airline, who have suffered cost-cutting such as being banned from charging their mobile phones at work, were unsure whether Mr O'Leary was serious.

A spokesman said yesterday: "While this has been discussed internally there are no immediate plans to introduce it. However, this highlights Ryanair's continuing obsession with lowering costs and passing these savings on in the form of lower fares.

"Passengers using train and bus stations are already accustomed to paying to use the toilet, so why not on airplanes? Not everyone uses the toilet on board our flights, but those that do could help to reduce air fares for all. Then again, maybe Mr O'Leary was just taking the p***."

But the airline also told The Scotsman: "A lot of people just go into the loo needlessly, which can cause a queue."

The charging plans caused outrage among consumer groups. Rochelle Turner, the head of research at Which? Holiday magazine, said: "It seems Ryanair is once again, is putting profit before the comfort of its customers. Charging people to go to the toilet might result in fewer people buying drinks on board. That would serve Ryanair right."

James Fremantle, of the Air Transport Users Council, the official passengers' watchdog, said: "Ryanair needs to think again because this is a step too far. There could be disabled passengers who need to use the toilets more frequently, the plane could be stuck on the tarmac for two hours, and then there are flights to places like Greece which can take three to four hours."

Howard Wheeldon, a senior strategist at the broker BGC Partners in London, said: "This begs a simple question: 'Is there absolutely nothing that this airline won't do?' Not really."

EasyJet, one of the airline's main rivals, said it had no plans to follow suit.