Ryanair has been accused of ignoring older passengers with a new rule. The budget airline is axing paper boarding passes this winter. From November 3, all flights will require passengers to use the Ryanair app for a digital boarding pass. 

Paper boarding passes will no longer be accepted. The airline has said passengers without phones or with dead batteries will be able to find help in airports. In groups, the lead passenger can download more than one boarding pass and share it on digital platforms. The move aims to remove airport check-in fees, save an estimated 300 tonnes of paper each year, and allow passengers to receive direct updates. But Silver Voices, an over-sixties lobby group, has said the decision is a “disgraceful move” and that the airline is putting profit ahead of customers’ wellbeing. Age UK said it will disadvantage the four million Brits who have never used the internet and the millions more who don’t have an Android or Apple phone.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, said: “It’s a disgraceful move. They are effectively saying they don’t want older people as passengers. There’s a strong argument to say that it’s discriminatory.

“This is going to cause chaos. If somebody goes to the airport to catch a Ryanair flight without the app, what are they going to do? Turn them away?

“It’s also going to isolate older people from society, which is what businesses that go completely digital do. I really would urge them to reconsider. I, for one, will not be flying with Ryanair, and I would urge other people to take the same action.”

Speaking on The Independent’s travel podcast, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary clarified some of the details and explained how the rules will work. 

He said: “Between 85 and 90% of passengers show up with smartphones. Almost 100% of passengers have smartphones, and we want to move everybody onto that smartphone technology. The big concern that people have is: “What happens if I lose my battery or whatever, I lose my phone? If you lose your phone, no issue. 

“As long as you've checked in before you got to the airport, we'll reissue a paper boarding pass at the airport free of charge. But you have to have checked in before you got to the airport.

“Also, if your battery dies or something happens, once you've checked in, we'll have your sequence number anyway at the boarding gate, we'll take you you'll get on. So nobody should worry about it. Just make sure you check in online before you get to the airport, and then all will be fine.”