Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget airline, has officially scrapped printed boarding passes, ushering in a new era of digital-only travel for its more than 200 million annual passengers. The sweeping change, effective November 12, 2025, requires all travelers—regardless of age or tech-savviness—to check in online and use a digital boarding pass generated through the Ryanair app or website. The bold move, which Ryanair says will make travel “faster, smarter, and greener,” has sparked both praise for its efficiency and criticism for potentially leaving some passengers behind.
According to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, the decision was driven by the fact that “almost 100 percent of passengers have smartphones, and we want to move everybody onto that smartphone technology.” Speaking candidly on The Independent’s daily travel podcast, O’Leary explained that the digital transition is simply the next logical step for the airline, which already sees between 85% and 90% of its customers using digital passes. “We send them SMS messages and two email confirmations, 48 hours before departure and 24 hours before departure,” O’Leary said, adding, “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.”
Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady echoed these sentiments in a September press release, touting the benefits of ditching paper: “faster, smarter, and greener” travel. The company claims that almost 80% of its 206 million passengers already use digital boarding passes, and that the move mirrors similar digital-only transitions seen in the festival, music, and sports industries.
But the new policy is not without its detractors. Campaign groups and charities have voiced concerns that the digital-only approach could disadvantage those who lack internet access or struggle with technology—particularly older travelers. Dennis Reed, from the advocacy group Silver Voices, told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, “The digital revolution has gone completely bonkers to be honest.” He warned that many essential services now require apps or QR codes, creating significant barriers for older people. “This is the tip of an iceberg,” Reed said, highlighting that a recent Ofcom report found 5% of people in the UK do not have internet access at home, including via mobile devices.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, voiced similar worries in The Telegraph, cautioning, “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 urged Ryanair to provide alternative booking methods and ways of showing tickets to those who “aren’t online.”
For some, these concerns are deeply personal. Peggy-Ann Munroe, a 94-year-old from Suffolk, shared her anxiety with BBC about the new rules. Munroe, who frequently flies with Ryanair to visit her daughter in Italy, described the digital move as “depressing.” She said, “I would be very sad to not be able to go and see my daughter, I look forward to it. It’s the highlight of my year.” Munroe worried about adding extra travel time to the already lengthy pre-flight process, as well as the challenge of navigating an unfamiliar digital system in a foreign country.
Despite the chorus of concern, O’Leary remains steadfast in his belief that the transition will not leave anyone stranded. He pointed out that “a vast number of over 50-year-olds have smartphones,” and claimed, “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.” O’Leary called the notion that older people can’t adapt to mobile technology “slightly patronising,” adding, “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.”
To ease the transition, Ryanair has implemented a few safeguards. Customers who have checked in online but cannot access their boarding pass on their smartphone—perhaps due to a lost or malfunctioning device—can now receive a printed pass for free at the airport. This is a shift from the previous policy, which charged £20 for this service. However, passengers who fail to check in online ahead of time will still face a hefty airport check-in fee of £55 (about $72). Airport desks will no longer print boarding passes on demand, and those who arrive unprepared may be hit with this substantial fee.
There are, however, a couple of exceptions to the digital-only rule. Passengers flying to Morocco and Albania will still be able to use paper boarding passes—Morocco indefinitely, and Albania until March 2026, after which digital passes will become mandatory. Ryanair has assured travelers that it will make exceptions for these routes, in line with local authorities’ requirements.
Ryanair maintains that the policy will ultimately benefit travelers. The company argues that digital-only boarding passes will make the boarding process faster and more efficient, reduce costs for both the airline and its customers, and contribute to environmental sustainability by eliminating paper waste. “Ryanair’s move to 100 percent digital boarding passes from Nov 12th follows other key ticket industries (like festivals, music, and sport events) which have successfully switched to digital-only ticketing,” the airline said in its September announcement.
Still, the debate rages on. While many travelers—especially those aged 18 to 35—may find the new system intuitive and convenient, a significant minority remain apprehensive. Critics argue that the policy risks excluding vulnerable groups, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to technology doesn’t account for the diversity of Ryanair’s passenger base.
For now, Ryanair appears committed to its digital path, insisting that “nobody will get stranded” as long as they check in online before heading to the airport. The airline has pledged to be “reasonably forgiving” of passengers arriving with paper passes through the holiday season, with O’Leary noting, “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.”
As the skies fill with travelers wielding smartphones instead of paper slips, Ryanair’s digital-only policy is set to become the new normal—at least for most of its routes. Whether this bold move will truly deliver on its promises of efficiency and inclusivity remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the days of the printed boarding pass are numbered for Europe’s busiest airline.
