From today, Ryanair passengers will no longer be able to use a printed boarding pass.
The Irish carrier is switching to paperless boarding passes, which require the passenger to download a digital version generated on the Ryanair app during check-in.
The new rule is controversial, with many passengers expressing concern for elderly flyers who may not have access to a smartphone.
As the new boarding rules begin today, Brits are warned not to get caught out and risk a large fee.
Desks at the airports will no longer offer the option to print them, which incurred a fee of £55.
It is likely that a similar fee will be charged to those who arrive at the airport without having downloaded their digital boarding pass.
The change comes as Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary claims between 85 and 90 per cent of its 200 million annual customers are already using digital passes.
For anyone who hasn’t made the move, this means you’ll have to check in before you get to the airport to secure your boarding pass.
From today, Ryanair passengers will no longer be able to use a printed boarding pass
But there are two exceptions to the rule.
The first is passengers flying to Albania. Authorities there have insisted that passengers present paper passes until March 2026, after which they’ve agreed that passes can be digital.
Morocco has the same paper pass policy as Albania; however, it won’t be changing its rules to fit Ryanair’s paperless policy.
Mr O’Leary has confirmed the airline will make exceptions in this case and accept physical passes for flights to the African country.
Some charities oppose the shift, warning that digital-only flying will create challenges for older passengers and other individuals who may struggle with tech and smart devices.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told The Telegraph that ‘companies must not forget the four million people who have never used the internet and the many others with limited digital skills who do not have a smartphone’.
She added that alternative booking methods and ways of showing tickets should be offered to those who ‘aren’t online’.
But Mr O’Leary maintains the change will not negatively affect specific groups of passengers so as long as they’re able to check in online in advance.
The change comes as Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary claims between 85 and 90 per cent of its 200 million annual customers are already using digital passes
He claims a ‘vast number of over 50-year-olds’ have smartphones, a figure he is sure of because 90 per cent of Ryanair passengers are ‘already using smartphones and digital boarding passes’.
For passengers who do not own or operate a smartphone, Mr O’Leary assured that ‘nobody will get stranded’ – on the basis that they check in online before going to the airport, where they’ll be able to pick up a boarding pass, free of charge.
As for passengers who fail to check in online before arriving at the airport, Mr O’Leary says their error will come at a price – a £55 fee, to be exact.
He told The Telegraph: ‘They will still, as they are today, be paying the airport check-in fee.
‘And they know that they have to check in the day before, because we send them SMS messages and two email confirmations, 48 hours before departure and 24 hours before departure.
‘So, anybody who shows up not having checked in before they get to the airport? Either they’re stupid or they just ignored our email instructions.’
It comes after Mr O’Leary defended the transition in September, claiming his 86-year-old mum uses the app, and further alleged it was a ‘myth’ that older people could not transition to changes in technology.
The 64-year-old said: ‘I’m old, and I travel from Ryanair on a very, very regular basis, and I use the Ryanair app, it is pretty simple, pretty easy to use.’
The Irish carrier is switching to paperless boarding passes, which require the passenger to download a digital version generated on the Ryanair app during check-in
He said: ‘Actually, what you find is the old people firstly just get their kids or grandkids to make bookings for them, and then pretty quickly they’re adopting it themselves.
‘And it is slightly patronising, this notion that old people can’t and won’t move to mobile technology or to the apps.’
He said ‘nobody would be cut off at the knees’ and the airline would be ‘reasonably forgiving’ of people showing up with paper boarding passes through Christmas and into January.
Mr O’Leary added: ‘We will manually board you at the boarding gate so if your phone goes off, you lose your phone, your phone gets stolen, it is not going to make any issue as long as you checked in online before you got the boarding gate.’
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