Ryanair scraps printed boarding passes to go fully digital

Passengers who present printed boarding passes at airports will no longer be accepted to fly with Ryanair, the company has announced.

One of Europe’s biggest budget airlines said it was “moving to 100% digital boarding passes” from Wednesday in a bid to speed up travel and lower costs.

It said all customers needed to check in online before arriving at the airport, adding that 90% of its 206 million passengers were already doing so and using digital boarding passes.

Those who fail to check in online ahead of their flight will have to pay an airport check-in fee of up to £55, the airline confirmed.

However, customers who have checked in online but cannot access their boarding pass on their smart phone will able to receive it for free at the airport – previously there was a £20 charge.

Ryanair has said the change will make things more efficient and lower flight costs for customers, as well as being environmentally friendly.

Despite the change, the company will continue to have check-in desks at airports.

For passengers travelling to Morocco, which still requires a paper boarding pass, customers will be able to collect these at the airport.

Speaking to the BBC, travel expert Simon Calder said most passengers were likely to adapt to digital-only passes but it would prove challenging for others.

“There will be people who are not necessarily familiar with smartphones, don’t feel comfortable about them or maybe simply don’t want a smartphone at all – they will still have to check in online,” he said.