The end of paper boarding passes on Ryanair has so far been “very successful” and there have been “no difficulties at all”, the airline has said. 

Yesterday was the last time Ryanair passengers could board the airline using a boarding pass printed at home. 

From today, all travellers will have to check-in using the company’s app and generate a digital boarding pass. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady said the great majority of people already use the app. 

 “Ultimately, we’re able to deliver a much better customer experience through the app,” he explained. 

“We think a lot of passengers have just been in the habit of printing paper. 

“Anecdotally, even in the office, we see a lot of people travelling with the app and paper.” 

Passengers boarding a Ryanair aircraft for a flight. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Mr Brady added that there are a significant number of advantages to using the company’s app when you travel with them.  

“Things like your gate info, your boarding start times, if there’s any disruption on the day of travel,” he said. 

“All your communications from our office go directly into the app in real time. 

“So, ultimately, we’re improving the customer experience.” 

A Ryanair plane with the control tower in the background at Dublin Airport. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

When asked if the change would disadvantage elderly people who might not feel comfortable using smartphones, Mr Brady said that a “lot of older people” have been using the app for years. 

“I, ultimately, think there’s a lot of people using paper out of habit,” he said. 

“I must say, any time we’ve made changes like this; we introduced online check-in over 15 years and we had similar arguments made against online check-ins. 

“‘People will never be able to online check-in.’ ‘People won’t have a desktop.’ 

“People adapt and now everyone online checks-in.”

A Ryanair flight. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images.

Mr Brady predicted people who have used paper boarding passes until recently will “adapt”, as customers have to previous changes. 

“It’s not about discriminating against certain groups, it’s about moving with the times here,” he said. 

“We don’t think there’s a need to be printing off paper to be travelling through airports.”

Main image: A Ryanair boarding pass. Picture by: Alamy.com.