Major airline's new boarding pass rule about to kick in and some experts predict 'chaos'
Ryanair has confirmed the date it is going to Ryanair
From November 12, travellers will switch to "100 per cent digital boarding passes". It had originally announced a date a week earlier, but that was during a school holiday, so moved it to ensure "a seamless transition for customers in the less busy travel period".
All customers will need to download the Ryanair app and use the digital boarding pass.
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Paper boarding passes will no longer be used on Ryanair. Getty
The airline said nearly 80 per cent of its 200 million passengers already do this, but it means 40 million travellers will need to change their habits.
The move has angered some groups who argue older travellers may not have smartphones or may struggle with technology.
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Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, told The Telegraph Ryanair was cutting costs and corners "without caring about the impact on their customers".
"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."
Reed is predicting "chaos".
The airline is bringing in the change on November 12. Getty
The airline has previously said passengers who don't have a smartphone can ask a friend or family member to download the boarding pass for them.
"Once a passenger is checked in, they will be provided assistance at the airport, where staff can see they have checked in."
Some airports in Morocco, Turkey and Albania are exempt as they only accept paper boarding passes.
Ryanair's chief commercial officer, Dara Brady, said the move to 100 per cent digital boarding passes "will mean a faster, smarter, and greener travel experience for our customers, streamlined through our best-in-class 'myRyanair' app, where passengers will also benefit from helpful in-app features, like Order to Seat and live flight information".
All customers will need to download the Ryanair app and use the digital boarding pass. Getty
While the latest press release doesn't give details on what happens with travellers with phones who have technical issues or run out of battery, the airline has said in the past they would still issue a paper boarding pass but only if the customer had already checked in on line.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told The Independent: "If you lose your phone, no issue. As long as you've checked in before you got to the airport, we'll reissue a paper boarding pass at the airport free of charge. But you have to have checked in before you got to the airport.
"Also, if your battery dies or something happens, once you've checked in, we'll have your sequence number anyway at the boarding gate, you'll get on. So nobody should worry about it."
This story was originally published by Stuff and has been reproduced here with permission.
