With new rules and regulations being implemented by TSA, airlines are also looking to make some major changes in 2025. This includes eventually eliminating paper boarding passes completely.
Specifically, Ryanair plans to go entirely paperless by November 2025. As a result, this will save over 300 tonnes (nearly 662,000 pounds) of paper over the next 10 years. This paperless movement intends to reduce the airline’s carbon footprint and enhance the customer travel experience.
In lieu of paper boarding passes, Ryanair passengers will be required to download a digital boarding pass from the myRyanair app. Travelers will be able to take advantage of a slew of other in-app features such as live flight updates, real-time alternative flight options, the new Order to Seat function and keeping all necessary travel documents (including your digital pass to board the flight) in one place.
For those who do not have a mobile phone, it appears there will be special cases to assist specific situations.
Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady, commented:
Like other ticket industries (concert, sports venues, rail, etc.) there has been a massive switch to using mobile, and with almost 80% of Ryanair customers already using the myRyanair app, it is time to transition the remaining passengers to digital, which will see them reduce their carbon footprint and receive a smoother and enhanced travel experience from November 2025 as Ryanair continues to grow to 300m passengers over the next decade.
But this move towards paperless boarding passes doesn’t stop with Ryanair. The UN agency, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), intends to get rid of boarding passes within the next 50 years, according to The Times.
Instead, they envision the use of biometric data and a “digital travel credential” that would allow passengers to upload and store their passport information on their mobile phones. All flight details could update automatically through a “journey pass” on one’s phone.
From there, travelers could simply skip the process of checking in and printing a boarding pass, using technology at the tip of their fingers and face scans to notify airlines when passengers arrive at the airport.
Of course, all of this would require many improvements to airport infrastructures worldwide. Thus, who knows how soon the official extermination of paper boarding passes could come, but it’s something to think about for the future.