Portugal has told Ryanair it must accept passengers’ paper boarding passes if they are flying out of Portuguese airports. 

Euronews reports that Portugal’s National Civil Aviation Authority has told the budget airline the rule risks non-compliance with passenger rights. 

The news is a blow to Ryanair, which announced last month to great fanfare that it would no longer accept paper boarding passes. 

The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Dara Brady, said the decision was “about moving with the times here”. 

On The Pat Kenny Show, Eoghan Corry said he always expected a “little bit of pushback” when the decision was implemented. 

 “Then they told us that 98% of people are showing up with digital boarding passes - which is great,” he said. 

“But 2% are not. What’s happening with the 2%? They’re still being accepted.” 

Mr Corry added that it means the ban on paper boarding passes is a “little more complex” that they would have the public believe. 

“If you’re not checked in online, you’re back into trouble territory, you’re back into paying very high fees at the airport,” he said. 

“The real issue arose when people started saying, ‘What happens if the battery runs down? I leave my phone on the train?’ 

“In all of those circumstances, the action is, ‘Have you checked in online or not?’ 

“If you’re checked in online, they know you’re going to be in a seat and when you turn up at the gate without a digital boarding pass, you’re going to be let board.” 

An aerial view of Dublin Airport from the perspective of a Boeing 737. Picture by: Mint Photography / Stockimo / Alamy Stock Photo.

Mr Corry did warn that any passenger who turned up at an airport with a digital boarding pass might struggle to enter as many have installed e-gate that are open digitally. 

He added that while Ryanair might be lenient about the issue at the moment, that could soon change. 

“It’s in the terms and conditions, there’s no automatic right to board unless you have a digital boarding pass,” he warned.

Main image: Michael O'Leary.