RYANAIR has pledged to install defibrillators on all of its aircraft after a mother from Heaton died on one of its flights to Lanzarote.

The Irish airline, one of the largest carriers across Europe, announced the decision to install the machines on its fleet from November as part of its summer schedule for next year.

Davina Tavener, aged 47, was found in an “unresponsive” condition after going to the toilet on the Ryanair flight, and is thought to have had an undiagnosed heart condition.

At her inquest, coroner Alan Walsh called on all airlines to consider installing the devices, which may have been able to restart Mrs Tavener's heart.

On its website, Ryanair said: "Ryanair also announced that it will introduce defibrillators on all of its aircraft from November, following consultation with its customers."

There are currently no laws to compel airlines to have defibrillators onboard aircraft, but many airlines offering long and short haul flights including Emirates, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic do so.

David Makinson, who was born with a complex congenital heart condition and has an implanted cardiac defibrillator that will restart his heart if he suffers from a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia, set up a petition to call for action after reading a report on the inquest in The Bolton News.

He said: "I am glad they have listened, it is a step in the right direction and hopefully other big companies on land as well as in the air will follow suit."

His petition collected nearly 30,000 signatures, and Mr Makinson, a former treasurer of the Bolton Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) Support Group, says he hopes it influenced Ryanair's thinking.

Mr Makinson said: "I would like to think it did. There was a glut of articles online after the inquest and after the petition was launched, and it was obviously seen by a lot of people."

However Mr Makinson believes there is more still to be done, and says his dream is for people to always be within two minutes of a defibrillator, be it at work or publicly available.

He said: "This is just the start, I believe all companies have a corporate responsibility to install these life saving devices."