Ryanair, from 12 November there is a risk of a €55 surcharge for those without a digital boarding pass

The obligation to board Ryanair aircraft only with a digital boarding pass has been postponed from 3 to 12 November. The postponement was decided "so as to ensure an uncomplicated transition for customers in a less busy travel period, immediately after the holidays in early November", the Irish carrier explained.

With the switch to 100% digital boarding passes, passengers will no longer be able to download and print a paper boarding pass, but will instead have to use the digital one generated in the "myRyanair" app during check-in in order to board their flight. This decision "represents," explained the airline, "the latest step in the digital transformation of Ryanair, which has already introduced numerous features and initiatives within its app to improve the travel experience of its more than 206 million customers". Among these, the company recalls: Order to Seat: ordering food and drinks directly from your phone and receiving them first; Live Flight Information, real-time updates on boarding, gates and delays; Direct Disruption Updates, live notifications from the Ryanair Operations Centre in the event of disruptions.

Nearly 80 per cent of Ryanair's 206 million passengers already use digital boarding passes, the carrier pointed out, and the move to 100 per cent digital as of 12 November follows the example of other ticketing-related industries (such as festivals, concerts and sporting events) that have already successfully made the transition to exclusively digital ticketing.

The stop to paper boarding passes is opposed by consumer associations: "it will entail new costs for travellers," highlighted Assoutenti, according to which the Irish carrier "forgets to specify what costs will be incurred by passengers who present themselves at the gate without a digital boarding pass," i.e. a surcharge that, according to the consumer association, on the basis of the price list published online by the company itself, amounts to €55 per traveller as an airport check-in fee. For Assoutenti president Gabriele Melluso, the decision also penalises some travellers, "think of older users who are less accustomed to technology, or those who will find themselves unable to use their smartphones at the airport because they are unloaded or suddenly out of use. Imposing on them a charge that may even exceed the cost of the airline ticket by a considerable amount is unfair'. According to Codacons, the novelty 'will end up penalising travellers and create enormous confusion among users' as consumers must always be given a free alternative, because otherwise we would be faced with an excessively coercive measure.