Ryanair has delayed a move to eliminate paper boarding passes by six months, to the start of its 2025 winter season.
The Ireland-based airline group had been set to introduce an entirely paperless boarding procedure in May, but on Wednesday (5 March) announced the rollout will be pushed back to November during the “less busy” winter season.
From 3 November, travellers will no longer be able to download and print a physical paper boarding pass and instead will be required to use the carrier’s “myRyanair” app to generate a digital boarding pass.
The low-cost carrier said almost 80 per cent of passengers already utilise its digital boarding passes and that the move will save more than 300 tonnes in paper waste each year.
Ryanair CMO Dara Brady said the digital transition will “allow us to deliver an enhanced travel experience for customers, streamlined through the myRyanair app… this will be particularly useful to passengers during disruptions as it will facilitate real-time updates from our ops centre directly to passengers’ phones, and will also provide them with alternative flight options, and offer transfers or hotel accommodation options when necessary”.
The carrier also expects its paperless boarding initiative will “eliminate almost all airport check-in fees… as all passengers will have checked-in online/in-app to generate their digital boarding pass”.
However, Ryanair’s digital services haven’t always provided a seamless experience, with its controversial biometric verification process for online bookings causing “friction” and “frustrations” for business travellers. Data protection groups have since filed complaints and Ireland’s data regulator in late 2024 launched an inquiry into the carrier’s use of facial recognition technology.
The airline was recently featured in BTN Europe’s The 2025 Hotlist for its attempts to move into the corporate travel market.