As 2024 comes to a close, passengers may already be thinking ahead to holidays next year.
And one major change to Ryanair could completely shake-up how passengers travel. The budget airline previously announced that it intends to phase out paper boarding passes and check-in desks entirely by 2025.
The change would make Ryanair the first airline in the world to go entirely paperless. Instead, travellers will be required to present a digital PDF version of their boarding pass via the app.
Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, revealed plans to eliminate printed boarding passes by May 2025.
Speaking at a press conference in October, he said: “We are working towards May 1 that everything will be done on the app, nothing will be done on paper anymore.”
Around 60 per cent of Ryanair passengers use the app. Mr O’Leary anticipates this will rise to 80 per cent before the end of the year, before hitting 100 per cent next spring.
As well as eliminating printed boarding passes, physical check-in desks may also be removed. “I’m one of the last remaining people still showing up with my piece of paper,” he said. “But it works so well. [The app] tells you your gate and if there is a delay.”
At present, passengers are charged £55 if they forget to check in online before getting to the airport.
Mr O’Leary claims that by scrapping check-in desks and physical boarding passes, passengers will never have to pay for their ticket to be printed at the airport again.
“The airport check-in fee will be gone. So I think it will be a smoother, easier journey for everybody,” he said.
Currently, travellers have a few options when it comes to Ryanair boarding passes. They can:
- download the app and use a ‘mobile pass’
- print out a physical paper boarding pass at home
- If they’re unable to do that, they can request a paper boarding pass at the airport for an extra £55
With the new changes, the only remaining option would be a mobile pass.
However, according to the Ryanair website, airports in Turkey (except Dalaman), Morocco and Tirana airport in Albania do not accept mobile passes.
Ryanair recommends passengers use the app and its ‘mobile passes’, and does not recommend using a screenshot of your boarding pass to travel.