Ryanair's change to boarding passes in 2025 could see £55 fee axed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

As 2024 draws to a close, many travellers are starting to consider their holiday options for the upcoming year.A significant update from Ryanair could revolutionise how customers fly.

The airline has made it known that by 2025, they plan to remove the use of paper boarding passes and traditional check-in desks.This move would position Ryanair as the first carrier to go completely paperless globally, requiring passengers to use a digital PDF version of their boarding pass available on the mobile app.Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary announced intentions to scrap physical boarding passes by May 2025 at an October press conference, stating: "We are working towards May 1 that everything will be done on the app, nothing will be done on paper anymore." Currently, 60 per cent of the airline's customers are app users.

Mr O'Leary expects this number to increase to 80 percent by the end of this year and then to reach full adoption by next spring, reports the Express.

In addition to phasing out printed boarding passes, Ryanair might also do away with physical check-in counters. Mr O'Leary remarked, having been one of the few still utilising a paper pass himself, "But it works so well. [The app] tells you your gate and if there is a delay."At the moment, a £55 fee is imposed on travellers who fail to check in online prior to arriving at the airport.Mr O'Leary argues that the elimination of check-in desks and paper boarding passes will ensure that flyers never need to pay to have their boarding details printed at the airport again."The airport check-in fee will be gone.