Ryanair Faces Backlash Over Digital-Only Boarding Passes as CEO Shrugs Off Elderly Passenger Fears

The outspoken boss of low-cost airline Ryanair has dismissed concerns that elderly and other vulnerable passengers could be grounded as a result of the carrier’s decision to switch to 100% digital boarding passes on November 12.

Michael O’Leary said passengers would adapt to the changes, and if the only way to fly Ryanair was to download a digital boarding pass to a smartphone, then passengers who currently use paper boarding passes they print at home will soon convert.

Ryanair announced the controversial change on Wednesday, consigning paper boarding passes to the history books as it seeks to get every single one of its passengers to use its smartphone app.

Irish charity Age Action has, however, warned that the move is “discriminatory against older people” and is a form of digital exclusion.

Charities are concerned that many elderly people don’t own smartphones, and those that do might not be comfortable using unfamiliar apps. Some elderly and vulnerable passengers rely on friends and family members to print their boarding passes for them before they go to the airport.

O’Leary has rejected those concerns, describing them as “patronizing” and insisting that when presented with no alternative, elderly passengers will soon make the switch to digital boarding passes.

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“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,” the 64-year-old chief executive said in response to the concerns that elderly people would be grounded.

While it’s debatable as to whether someone in the mid-60s can be considered ‘old’ nowadays, O’Leary said that his 86-year-old also used the Ryanair smartphone app without any issues.

“The people who jump first on every seat sale we run are old people,” O’Leary continued. “If that’s the only way they can fly with Ryanair. They will just convert and move because that’s what they do.” 

Behind the bluster, however, O’Leary signalled a slight softening in the policy, explaining that “nobody would be cut off at the knees” and that the airline would be “reasonably forgiving” if passengers arrived at the airport with paper boarding passes through to January 2026.

What’s changing?

From November 12, 2025, Ryanair passengers will be expected to use the myRyanair smartphone app to check in for their flight and download their boarding pass.

Currently, around 80% of Ryanair’s passengers already download their boarding pass via the smartphone app, but the airline is determined to increase that to 100%.

Since announcing the policy, however, Ryanair says it will be “reasonably forgiving” towards anyone who prints a paper boarding pass rather than a digital boarding pass until January 2026.

What other exceptions are there?

Some airports that Ryanair flies to don’t yet accept digital boarding passes, and passengers must have a paper boarding pass when flying on these routes:

• All flights from airports in Türkiye (with the exception of Dalaman Airport)
• Flights between Tirana, Albania, and London

Passengers must print their own boarding passes or face an additional fee to have the boarding pass printed at the airport.