As Europe’s leading low-cost airline Ryanair plans to do away with printed boarding passes in the next few months, we’ve rounded up the boarding pass rules for other budget airlines
Ryanair plans to scrap paper boarding passes by November 2025, but what does this mean for other budget airlines?
While digital boarding passes are a popular option for passengers already, Ryanair – Europe’s largest budget airline – has become the first to completely do away with paper boarding passes as part of a move towards sustainability and a simpler boarding process.
However, with the upcoming change raising questions for many passengers around what kind of boarding passes they can travel with, The Mirror has put together a list of rules for some of the UK’s most popular low-cost carriers.
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Ryanair
At present, Ryanair accepts both printed boarding passes and those on a mobile phone. Passengers can download digital passes on its website or app, or print off paper passes at home on a single page of A4.
You can also get your boarding card printed at the desk for a fee of £55. However, this will change on November 3, after the airline announced that printed passes will no longer be accepted. Instead, passengers will have to download a digital boarding pass on the Ryanair app.
Ryanair has stated that the change is expected to save 300 tonnes of paper each year, while the airline’s CMO Dara Brady said the move would allow for a streamlined boarding experience.
In case of a customer’s phone battery dying or if a customer loses their phone, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said that staff will still be able to allow them onto a flight. However, in this event they should make sure to check in online no later than two hours before getting to the airport.
It is also important to note that there are some exceptions to the digital-only rule. Passengers flying out of airports in Morocco or Turkey (with the exception of Dalaman) will continue to require a printed pass.
Meanwhile, Tirana airport in Albania will also require paper boarding cards after November 3 – but this is set to change in March 2026.
easyJet
EasyJet accepts both digital and physical boarding passes and has not announced any plans to ban printed passengers. Passengers can arrive at the airport with their boarding cards already printed or have these printed at the check-in desk at no extra cost.
If opting for a digital boarding pass, note that these should be downloaded from the mobile app. You cannot use a PDF scan of your boarding pass on your mobile device as these won’t scan properly.
While the majority of easyJet airports accept mobile boarding passes, there are a number of exceptions which require printed boarding passes.
Jet2
Jet2 is another budget carrier that allows both mobile and printed boarding passes. Passengers are able to check in on the Jet2 app to download their boarding pass up to six hours before departure time.
If you miss this window, you will have to check in at the desk, a service Jet2 offers free of charge. It’s important to note that Jet2 also flies out of locations in Turkey and Morocco which require physical boarding passes.
Wizz Air
The low cost airline will generally accept printed and mobile boarding passes. However, it also flies from some airports that require printed documents. If you’re unsure, their website has a tool to help check which airports will require a physical boarding card.
If you are unable to print your boarding pass yourself, Wizz Air can do it for you at the check-in desk for a fee of €40 (around £35). Otherwise, you can pre-book the printing service online for €13 (around £11).
However, the two exceptions are if you are travelling Agadir in Morocco or Zaragoza in Spain. Online check-in is not available for these airports, so they offer full desk check-in which includes printing boarding passes for free.