Ryanair has been forced to soften its stance on banning paper boarding passes and forcing passengers to download a digital version on the airline’s mobile app after European regulators put the low-cost carrier on notice.
On November 12, Ryanair became the first airline in the world to try to consign paper boarding passes to the history books, but it looks like traditional boarding passes are here to stay after officials in Portugal took issue with the digital transition.
Even before Ryanair implemented the paper boarding pass ban, the vast majority of its passengers were already using digital passes on their mobile phones, but the airline was determined to hit 100% of passengers, dismissing concerns from various charities that the plan was a form of ‘digital exclusion.’
Ryanair didn’t seem to be concerned that some of its passengers don’t own smartphones or that vulnerable customers might struggle to download and use a digital boarding pass.
The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, commented that elderly customers would quickly adapt to the new rules if it meant being able to access Ryanair’s frequent flight sales.
In the run-up to the supposed cut-off date for the end of paper boarding passes, however, it has emerged that Portugal’s civil aviation authority, known as ANAC, raised its concerns with Ryanair and managed to secure some concessions from the airline.
In a statement, ANAC said it wrote to Ryanair in a bid to secure passenger rights, especially those with disabilities or reduced mobility, and anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone.
In response, Ryanair admitted that as long as passengers check in for their flight online, they will still be able to pick up a paper boarding pass at the airport for free.
Despite those assurances, ANAC has put Ryanair on notice, telling the airline that it must not deny boarding to anyone who has checked in online but does not have a digital boarding pass and that it cannot charge passengers a fee for printing a boarding pass.
On the first day of what was meant to be the paper boarding pass ban, Ryanair announced that 98% of passengers turned up at the airport with a digital boarding pass, and the few remaining passengers who didn’t have a digital pass were issued a paper boarding pass for free.
Ryanair has painted the digital boarding pass initiative as all about sustainability and claims it could save as much as €40 million per year. That money, the airline’s chief marketing officer, Dara Brady, says, will be used to lower air fares.
Lazy journalism … Ryanair has made it clear from the start that if you have checked in online you’ll get a boarding pass free of charge if, for example, your phone runs out of battery. You needed to have checked in in order to print a pass, so what’s the story?