While having a plane ticket on your phone still feels like a relatively new phenomenon, the feature actually dates back to 1994.
That was when Southwest Airlines (LUV) first launched the early digital boarding pass. In the pre-smartphone era, this looked like a computer reservation system with a list of customer names — once registered on the flight, travelers could just show their ID or give a confirmation number in order to board the flight.
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Airline to go paperless (but there are already setbacks)
With the next three decades bringing some pretty major advances in both scanning and smartphone technology, pretty much every airline now allows travelers to bypass the paper ticket. Few, however, have eliminated them outright — mostly to account for situations in which an online system glitches or a traveler needs paper for any number of reasons.
The largest airline in Europe by total passengers served, low-cost carrier Ryanair (RYAOF) has been among those aiming for a full transition to paperless. On March 5, the Ireland-based airline announced that it will completely get rid of paper boarding passes by November 3 of this year.
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“As well as being better for the environment, using the myRyanair app also enhances customers’ travel experience as they benefit from a range of helpful in-app features and initiatives (especially during disruption),” Ryanair said in announcing the move.
But as first reported by travel platform Skift, the airline has already run into some of the aforementioned setbacks — particularly in smaller airports that do not have the technology to go fully paperless — that will require it to make certain exceptions.
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“Put simply, Ryanair’s paperless push will ultimately be outside its control. As the airline itself acknowledges, not all airports in its network accept digital boarding passes,” Skift reporter Meghna Maharishi writes. “The carrier’s website says none of its Turkish airports, except Dalaman, offer mobile options. All Moroccan airports also require traditional paper passes, as well as routes to the UK from the Albanian capital, Tirana.”
Other airports are slowly moving toward paperless boarding
The Ryanair website states that “customers traveling from these airports must check-in online and print out a paper boarding pass for their flight(s).”
The airline has yet to respond to how this will affect the airport check-in fee, which it currently charges to travelers who do not print or download their boarding pass prior to arrival; Ryanair said transitioning to doing everything through the app would eliminate it by simultaneously eliminating the option.
While Ryanair is the first major airline to lead such a change, a number of airports have been slowly transitioning to greater use of facial recognition technology and ticketless boarding.
Changi Airport in Singapore has started using an online screening system in which a traveler’s nationality is connected to their boarding pass and cleared before they get to customs while, over in the U.S., United Airlines (UAL) travelers with TSA PreCheck can pass through security without having to show either a boarding pass or ID on domestic routes out of certain airports like Chicago O’Hare and LAX.
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