Ryanair and easyJet's boarding pass warning if flying to Morocco or Turkey this year
Anyone planning a trip to either of the holiday hotspots this summer should check the rules carefully.
Digital boarding passes are becoming a standard way to board your flight, with many passengers opting to have the document on their phone or tablet. And some airlines are even moving towards phasing out printed paper boarding passes in the near future.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary announced last year that they would scrap paper boarding passes, although the initial May 2025 date for this development has been moved back until November 3 of this year. And it's likely that other carriers will follow suit and take on this convenient and sustainable option at some point.
Ryanair say that the move to digital-only boarding passes is a way of committing to digitalisation, with the supposed aim of streamlining its processes. Despite this, passengers flying to two popular holiday destinations are being warned that they still require printed boarding passes this summer.
Holidaymakers jetting off to Morocco and to Turkey are required to have a physical copy of their boarding cards on them for their journeys.
This is because these airports do not have their own rules around the vital documentation and they do not accept digital versions of boarding passes.
The Ryanair website states: "We accept mobile boarding passes for flights from most airports in our network. However, airports in some countries are unfortunately not yet able to accept mobile boarding passes.
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"Customers travelling from these airports must check in online and print out a paper boarding pass for their flights.
"If you depart from a Moroccan airport, a digital boarding pass will not be accepted. You must carry a physical printout of your boarding pass, and you'll need to present this boarding pass at the Moroccan airport check-in facility."
Access to boarding passes are available under 'My Bookings' on both Ryanair's website and mobile app, Bristol Live reports.
Furthermore, the airline pointed out that digital boarding passes aren't just an issue in Morocco, but also in Turkey (except Dalaman airport) and Tirana, but only when travelling to the UK from the Albanian capital city.
As for journeys departing from Turkey, while they haven't approved digital boarding passes yet, flight check-in can still be done online, just don't forget to bring along a printed copy of the boarding pass.
EasyJet has also issued guidance for passengers flying to and from Morocco and Turkey.
They said: "Due to local regulations in place at Marrakech, mobile boarding passes are not available.
"You will need to print your boarding pass and go to Bag Drop for a document check, even if you don't have bags to drop off."
The airline also cautioned travellers from Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco who are only carrying cabin bags that they must visit Bag Drop prior to security.
Additionally, it noted that enhanced security measures are in effect for flights from Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt to the UK.