The airline axing check-in at the airport; no smartphone, no travel

Welcome to the future, or at least, the future of travelling on Ryanair. The Irish low-cost airline has announced it is planning to phase out paper boarding tickets and will end the ability to check-in at the airport. CEO Michael O’Leary said the plans should come into effect next May. Passengers will need to check-in online or on the airline’s app. Currently those who don’t check-in online get hit with a €55 (NZ$97) charge at the airport, unless they are on a Flexi Plus ticket. “We want to get rid of airport checks in the same way we got rid of bag [desks],” O’Leary said in a press conference. “We are working towards from May 1 that everything will be done on the app, nothing will be done on paper any more.” Currently about 60% of passengers check-in on the app, and that is expected to rise to 80% by the end of the year. “The customers who want the piece of paper are the same demographic that when we first moved over to the internet they wouldn’t move over but were then the first ones to switch to the internet for cheaper airfares.”<br/>