IRISH airline Ryanair has described the first day of its new digital-only boarding pass initiative as a 'huge success'.
Starting today, the airline no longer issues passengers with paper boarding passes as it embraces a digital-only system.
Ryanair said that as of 1pm today, it had operated more than 700 flights under the initiative without any delays, with 98 per cent of passengers presenting a digital pass at the airport.
"So far, day one of Ryanair's DBP (Digital Boarding Pass) has been a huge success as over 700 flights and more than 100,000 passengers enjoyed the improved service and better experience of paper-free boarding at Ryanair airports," said CMO Dara Brady.
"We estimate our DBP initiative will save up to €40m annually and this will help us to lower ticket prices and make air travel more competitive for Ryanair's customers."
Ryanair said that the 2 per cent of passengers who didn't arrive at the airport with a digital boarding pass had still checked in online prior to arrival and were issued free-of-charge boarding passes.
While 'one or two' passengers did have a problem with their phones, they were still boarded without difficulty as boarding gates had their details from their online check-in.
"Customer feedback was universally positive as passengers swiped their phones through airport security and boarding gates," added a statement from the airline.
As well as saving money, Ryanair says the initiative provides a better service for customers and is better for the environment, avoiding the printing of 300 tonnes of paper each year.
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