Paper boarding passes are about to become history at Ryanair. Starting November 12, 2025, the Irish low-cost giant will require all passengers to use digital boarding passes, with no option for paper check-in.
Ryanair Goes 100% Digital Boarding Passes
Ryanair has confirmed that from November 12, 2025, it will no longer issue paper boarding passes. Instead, passengers will be required to check-in via the Ryanair app and present a digital boarding pass on their smartphone to board. The airline is marketing the change as a move toward efficiency and sustainability, noting that over 80% of its 206 million annual passengers already check in digitally today.
This change means the days of printing out a boarding pass at home or paying a stiff fee to have one issued at the airport will officially come to an end. Going forward, the myRyanair app will be the only way to obtain a boarding pass.
I Wouldn’t Worry Too Much Over This…
This is classic Ryanair: aggressive, unapologetic, and focused on cutting costs wherever possible (in three words, we hate you). For the vast majority of passengers, this won’t be a huge change, since most already use digital boarding passes anyway. But making it mandatory underscores how far Ryanair is willing to go in forcing standardization.
Curtailing the ability to print boarding passes at the airport is at least understandable, but it’s quite odd that the ability to print boarding passes at home will also be shut down. I do understand there is a strong commercial incentive to push people to use the myRyanair app, which can extract personal info and sell it to the highest bidder, but not everyone has smartphones.
What’s missing from Ryanair’s policy, however, is any clear mention of backup provisions. Phones break. Batteries die. Apps glitch. Other carriers that have leaned heavily into digital boarding still provide kiosks or staffed fallback options, but Ryanair’s announcement makes no reference to such contingencies. Passengers will be expected to come prepared and in true Ryanair fashion, sympathy will likely be in short supply.
But let me go out on a limb and predict that paper boarding passes will still be a thing. First, because some places mandate it (my understanding is that Morocco, for example, requires printed boarding passes). Second, because I can just see the lawsuits now alleging age and disability discrimination. Not only do many not have smartphones, but those who don’t tend to fall into recognizable groups like senior citizens and the disabled. My hunch is that airports will still be able to print these out; it will just be strongly discouraged.
United Airlines gives us a good example. Its kiosks now no longer show an option to print paper boarding passes…unless you really know how to work it.
> Read More: United Airlines Makes It Grueling To Print A Paper Boarding Pass From Airport Kiosk…
CONCLUSION
Starting November 12, Ryanair will become the first major airline to go entirely paperless for boarding passes. For most, this will hardly be a change. But for those who still rely on printed passes or find themselves caught without a working smartphone, this shift could be a rude awakening. But I just cannot see this ending well for Ryanair and I imagine there will still be situations (perhaps many situations) in which paper boarding passes are issued.
“I can just see the lawsuits now alleging age and disability discrimination.” Why?? Ryanair is not a Government entity, it is a company offering services and they are allowed to decide how to deliver their services. If you don’t have a smartphone or don’t like their policy, just fly another airline.
Agree . Avoid Ryanair which is soooo “cute” in how it maximizes trouble . Why waste time arguing ?
@Santastico: Just like why airlines cannot say if you need a wheelchair, choose another carrier. Accommodation laws are fairly broad in protecting those who have (or allege) disabilities.
I’m not wholly opposed to the digital-only boarding passes…I just don’t think it will work under existing EU/US law.
Wheelchairs have nothing to do with how you present your boarding pass. Wheelchair service at airports is not handled by airlines. It is offered for everyone. If it is clearly stated in their business model that boarding passes are electronic only passengers have a choice to choose a different airline. I am not discussing if it will be allowed in the EU or not but that’s how the economy works. Apple does not offer physical SIM cards on their phones anymore, their phones come without a charger. People have a choice to buy phones from other brands if they don’t like that. Same with airlines. Nobody is forced to fly Ryanair.
“Smart” phones ? Ha !
More like “Dumb” phones for all the dumb ones . If the signals are ever “blacked out” , the “smart” phone addicts will be completely helpless .
” Sustainability and Efficiency ” Like nails on a chalkboard, overused language that simply irritates as a corporate excuse for change. Why not say no paper boarding passes ? Surprised Ryanair didn’t offer to sell paper boarding and check-in. I guess it’s too soon after the greenwashing.
Seeing this just makes me glad that my children are getting older and more self-sufficient and that I almost never have reason to use RyanAir.
I understand why an airline would want to eliminate having to print passes for people, but if the procedure is that when you get to the boarding gate and the gate agent basically scans a QR code (or something similar) taking a stance against that code being on paper rather than an electronic device seems unnecessarily punitive. Also, the same process– scanning a code that links to boarding credentials– happens at security. Requiring these codes to be on an electronic format is less efficient in certain circumstances, which may impact a minority of patients, but by no means are uncommon.
O’Liary has stated that paper boarding passes will still be issued at the airport to people who either don’t have a smart phone or who have a dead battery. These, he claims will be free.
It’s difficult to believe Ryanair will suddenly issue free paper boarding passes but unless they do, they will encounter legal action from people not permitted to fly.
They should require you to speak clear English to be a passenger, since it would be more efficient for them. Also, white people are easier to spot when searching for bodies at night in a search and rescue situation, so maybe they should disallow people of color from flying? It just seems more efficient.
Why don’t they just threaten arrest to those who don’t have a cell phone in hand (ie., mentally challenged or severely disabled) or arrest those whose cell phones have died or were lost or stolen in transit. So now your non-refundable fare is your loss over things that are out of your control ?? Right, DON’T FLY THEM. Can’t wait to see how (hopefully) this plays out in the courts.
Or the Brian Kilmeade “final” solution.
This is a monstrous outrage. I am totally and absolutely opposed to digital only both by government and private business.
I hope Ryanair gets its clock cleaned in court if/when there is any legal action regarding this matter.
I believe that the ability to live an analogue life totally outside the digital world ought to be a basic universal human right. Not only for government services but private businesses should be legally required to accommodate those who are unwilling or unable to go digital. Like the Amish.
My reading on this suggests that, as long as you checkin online/app within 2 hours of your flight you’ll be good to go with no extra fees. Checkin less than 2 hours, you’ll pay a hefty fee for an airport checkin. Checkin on time, show up at the airport, claim to not have a smart phone or that yours has “died,” thet’ll print you a b/p for free (after early November). No big deal.