The UK government has given a response to concerns over big change which will impact all Ryanair customers from next month. The budget giant airline has announced it will move to 100% digital boarding passes from Wednesday November 12, in a move that will mean passengers will no longer be able to download and print a physical paper boarding pass but will instead need to use the digital boarding pass generated in the Ryanair app.
Concerns have been raised that it could have an impact on older people who might not be internet savvy or even have smartphones. In a new Parliamentary written question Liberal Democrat MP Ian Sollom asked Secretary of State for Transport heidi Alexander: ““ith reference to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Ryanair’s proposed requirement for all passengers to have digital boarding passes on (a) pensioners and (b) other passengers who do not possess a smartphone.”
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary last month blasted concerns as “patronising” to suggest older people will not migrate to digital boarding passes. In a bullish press conference, the outspoken CEO said, “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.”
“If you’ve checked online before you get there and you lose your phone, we’ll have your name in the system. 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, which, by the way, would eliminate all the check-in fees at the airport.”
Keir Mather, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in a reply today said any fees should be proportionate and added: “Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, airlines must ensure that their terms and conditions are fair, transparent, and do not place certain consumers at an unfair disadvantage. The CAA is responsible for ensuring airline compliance with the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
“The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) conducted a review of airline contract terms in 2019, including those relating to online check-in and the issuing of boarding passes. The review concluded that while online check-in requirements can be legitimate, such terms must be clearly communicated and any associated fees should be proportionate.
“Ryanair continues to require all passengers to check in online. According to their new digital boarding pass policy, passengers without access to a smartphone can obtain a boarding pass for free at the airport as long as they have checked-in online.”
Ryanair has said: “Ryanair are moving to 100% Digital Boarding Passes (DBP) from 12 Nov 2025. This means from Wed 12 Nov, all passengers will receive a DBP to their Ryanair App when they check-in online as paper boarding passes will no longer be issued. Online check-in can be completed on Ryanair.com or on the Ryanair App.”
The airline says the change will lowers airport costs and fares for all passengers, allows a ‘better service (including flight info) for customers on day of travel’, improves customer service and re-booking during flight disruptions and is better for the environment as they claim it gets rid of 300 tonnes of paper annually.
Ryanair chief marketing officer Dara Brady said: “To ensure a seamless transition to 100 per cent digital boarding passes for our customers, we will make the switch from November 12, which is traditionally a slightly quieter time for travel following the busy mid-term break period.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, has criticised Ryanair for attempting to “cut costs and cut corners without caring about the impact on their customers.”
He commented: “It’s a disgraceful move. They are effectively saying they don’t want older people as passengers. There’s a strong argument to say that it’s discriminatory.
“This is going to cause chaos. If somebody goes to the airport to catch a Ryanair flight without the app, what are they going to do? Turn them away?. It’s also going to isolate older people from society, which is what businesses that go completely digital do.
“I really would urge them to reconsider. I, for one, will not be flying with Ryanair, and I would urge other people to take the same action.”