Ryanair update as passengers worry over new smartphone-only boarding passes

Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary has issued an update over the airline's plans to make smartphone boarding passes mandatory.

Europe’s largest budget airline, Ryanair intends to stop accepting paper print-outs of boarding passes from November 3 onwards. Passengers will instead be expected to present their boarding pass from the Ryanair app.

The move is expected to "eliminate almost all airport check-in fees" and allow "direct updates from Ryanair's operations centre during disruption". The airline has estimated it will also save 300 tonnes in paper each year. While the decision has been met with some concern, Mr O'Leary recently explained how the new rules will work.

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He told The Independent's daily travel podcast: "Between 85 and 90 per cent of passengers show up with smartphones. Almost 100 per cent of passengers have smartphones, and we want to move everybody onto that the smartphone technology.

"The big concern that people have is: 'What happens if I lose my battery or whatever I lose my phone?' If you lose your phone, no issue. As long as you've checked in before you got to the airport, we'll reissue a paper boarding pass at the airport free of charge. But you have to have checked in before you got to the airport.

"Also, if your battery dies or something happens, once you've checked in, we'll have your sequence number anyway at the boarding gate, we'll take you, you'll get on. So nobody should worry about it. Just make sure you check in online before you get to the airport and then all will be fine."

According to the Ryanair website, the current boarding pass re-issue fee is £20. However, from November 3 it will be free. Some nations including Morocco and Albania will continue to insist that passengers are carrying print-outs of boarding passes.

Mr O'Leary said that an agreement had been reached with the Albanian authorities that they will go digital as well from next March. He also said that the Moroccan authorities still insist on paper and, in those circumstances, the company will accept paper boarding passes.

Ryanair has a history of directing customers towards online check-in by penalising those who wait until the airport before checking in with an extra fee. The fee is currently stated on the airline’s website as costing an extra €55 (£47). Exceptions to this include Austria, where the fee sits at €40 (£34) and Spain, where it costs passengers €30 (£26).