By Sally McLean

Copyright dailyrecord

Ryanair will scrap paper boarding passes in just a few weeks as they move towards a digital only system. The airline announced the move last October and said it was an effort to make the travel experience ‘faster, smarter and greener’ for passengers. The low-cost carrier is the first to move to an entirely paperless way of boarding for all flights . But the move has sparked fears for some of their passengers who could struggle with accessing a digital boarding card. There are concerns that it will cause elderly passengers who don’t own a smartphone, or are not comfortable using one, issues when heading on holiday . And there have been questions raised over what fliers will do if their phones run out of battery, have no internet connection or if their device is stolen or lost. Ahead of the launch of the new paperless boarding card era, here’s everything Ryanair customers need to know. Ryanair has confirmed that from November 12, paper passes will no longer be accepted. From this date passengers must generate a boarding card on the myRyanair app on their phones. There will no longer be an option to download and print a boarding pass from this date. The date was put back from May 2025 to November 3. It was delayed once again to November 12 in a bid to minimise disruption and ensure a smoother transitions after the UK schools mid-term break period. If you don’t own a smartphone or if your phone runs out of battery, Ryanair has confirmed that you can request a paper boarding pass at their check-in desks. There is no charge for this, however, they state that you must have already checked in online beforehand. Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary, spoke to The Independent ‘s daily travel podcast and said the new rules wouldn’t be an issue for the majority of their customers. He said: “Almost 100 per cent of passengers have smartphones, and we want to move everybody onto that smartphone technology .” The airline said that four out fo five of their passengers already use digital boarding cards while travelling. O’Leary told The Independent that, in the event your phones dies, you can still board. He said: “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 else happens, once you’ve checked in, we’ll have your sequence number anyway at the boarding gate, and we’ll make sure you 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.” All flights apart from those to two countries will require digital boarding passes. Flights from Morocco will still require a paper boarding pass. This is because its Government insists on paper passes. Ryanair state: “You must complete check-in online to receive check-in confirmation on your mobile phone through the Ryanair App. You must then present this confirmation and collect a printed boarding pass at the check-in desk.” This is also the case for passengers flying from Tirana, Albania to the UK.