Ryanair’s new boarding pass rules “abusive”

After announcing that, starting on November 12, the airline would stop accepting printed boarding passes, Ryanair is now facing a request from DECO to halt this measure, who deem it to be “abusive”.

Ryanair recently announced that, starting November 12, it would no longer accept printed boarding passes and that passengers should exclusively use digital boarding passes. DECO considers the imposition "abusive" and is requesting intervention from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) and the Public Prosecutor's Office, according to a report by Publituris.

"Despite no technical or regulatory justification determining this, starting next week, the low-cost carrier is imposing the use of digital boarding passes and forcing passengers who wish to travel with the carrier to download its app," DECO says in a press release.

DECO views "with concern" yet another measure by the company that "discriminates against and complicates the lives of passengers who do not have smartphones or are simply less familiar with digital tools". DECO further emphasises that, “after introducing significant fees for airport check-in, the airline's new manoeuvre again penalises consumers with fewer digital skills and may lead to new queues at airports.”

Considering the company's imposition of requiring passengers to download an app and preventing them from travelling freely with physical documents to be “unjustified,” DECO requested the intervention of ANAC (National Civil Aviation Agency) and the Public Prosecutor's Office to “proceed with legal action to prohibit the airline from maintaining the clauses it considers abusive in the contracts, thus making the airline's imposition unfeasible.”

With ryanair the question is always: How low can you go?

By Floyd from Algarve on 05 Nov 2025, 13:07

I always get a paper boarding pass: a lot of things can happen to a smart phone.

By Mark from Lisbon on 06 Nov 2025, 10:41

Nickel and diming passengers under the guise of providing Great Service. Sky Bandits.

By Serafin Schardt from Other on 06 Nov 2025, 12:41

This is progress. The countrer-argument is that allowing paper boarding passes destroys the environment and requires many trees to be felled. That is not a positive outcome.
DECO is defending the dinosaur class that is scared of modernity and technology, and wants Portugal to return to the 1950s, or even earlier.
Are they going to ban cars being used for taxis next, and insist on replacing them with horses, forcing all taxi users to be transported on horseback, like in previous centuries?

By Billy Bissett from Porto on 06 Nov 2025, 13:54

Ryanair is my "last resort" airline, I do not touch their flights unless it is absolutely the final option. Abusive and without any ethics or moral code, they serve little purpose.
That's why in the past year I have taken 42 flights, but booked with them 2 return flights.
Let them disappear and fail, nobody will miss them.
My next move is to boycott them altogether.

By Anthony Williams from Lisbon on 06 Nov 2025, 17:53

I also don't like this new rule by Ryanair. However, I think nothing will be cooked as hot as it is eaten (so to speak) and I bet paper boarding passes will be accepted if nothing else works. These days an app is requited for many services (e.g. banking) and if a bank can make two factor authentication mandatory via an app then why can't Ryanair do something similar.

By Tom from Lisbon on 07 Nov 2025, 16:01

It is one more trick from Ryanair to nick few more coins from costumers.
Do like I do. Don't fly with Ryanair. All the nice things any other company give you for a pleasant flight, Ryanair give you none and everything you ask for inside the flight it's absurd expansive.
I don't trust Ryanair at all. I hope never happen any accidents because I don't see any manutention done and the planes look always so dirty. God bless the people o has the courage to flight in one of is machines!

By Carlos Goncalves from UK on 21 Nov 2025, 05:44