Starting in November, Ryanair passengers will no longer be able to use printed boarding passes. When you travel with Ryanair, you will have to use the mobile app.
Naturally, this doesn’t impact the cast majority of passengers who are already using the app, but when I travel I always see at least a few people with printed boarding passes. And as expected, there’s been a little bit of backlash.
Elderly and Differently Abled Travellers
Age Action Ireland published a report that states 62% of adults over 65 do not have “basic” digital skills and are “digitally excluded”.
Older travellers, and people with varying levels of physical and mental ability, will often have support from family getting their documents together, but may have to travel alone. Typically, they are much more confident having a printed boarding pass over an app they have to find, navigate through and open.
According to the latest data from Comreg, we can estimate that anywhere from 900k to 1.8M non‑smartphones in use in Ireland. I’m sure a large proportion of these aren’t being used as daily phones and will never travel, but it’s 15% to 30% of active phone subs in Ireland.
All of this data shows this is an issue that might not affect you, but will almost certainly affect someone you know.
Other Scenarios Affected
There’s also the issue of technology breaking down. If your phone gets stolen, broken or the battery dies in the airport, retrieving your boarding pass can be a challenge.
I use quite a few layers of security, including 2FA and password managers. So I’m not sure how I could replace a sim or access my Ryanair account should my phone get stolen, and I didn’t have another personal device with me when travelling.
It’s also important to remember that while this makes the headlines, there are some exclusions. For example, when flying from Moroccan airports, you will still require a printed boarding pass, as per the Ryanair website. The airline says “the change will not apply to passengers travelling from Morocco”.
Onwards to Digital
Ryanair’s move towards digital-only travel isn’t too surprising, and it follows a trend we’ve all seen with banks and similar services moving towards digital. Ryanair says the move will improve airport customer experience and remove airport check-in fees, along with helping the environment by reducing paper waste.
You can make the argument that in today’s world, a smartphone is practically mandatory. And while this might be an unpopular move to some, as always – others will likely follow after Ryanair makes the unpopular move.
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Updated: 06/08/2025 at 12:50: Added answer from Ryanair stating “The change will not apply to passengers travelling from Morocco”.
