Ryanair is moving to 100% digital boarding passes from today, which means that paperless boarding is official.
From today all passengers must check in online before arriving at the airport.
But passengers will no longer be able to print out a paper boarding pass. Instead they will get their boarding pass through the Ryanair app on their smartphone.
Ryanair says 90% of its more than 206 million passengers do this already.
If a passenger does not have a smartphone or their battery dies or their phone gets lost, once they have checked in online they can receive a boarding pass at the airport.
But if Ryanair passengers arrive at the airport without checking in online they will have to pay the airline's check in fee.
Ryanair says paperless boarding will lower airport costs, adding that it will pass on the savings to customers with lower fares.
The airline also said paperless boarding will make travel quicker and more environmentally friendly.
The Head of Advocacy and Public Affairs at Age Action said Ryanair's decision will affect many people who do not have the skills or cannot afford to do business online.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Camille Loftus said many older people are "locked out" of digital services and "they're just not considered at all."
She explained: "One of the things that older people who have called us about this, and we've had lots of calls about this, is that flying is a stressful enough activity as it is.
"The workarounds that Ryanair are providing ... require you to check in online. So again, you still need that capability, a computer, a phone, a tablet, an internet connection in order to do that," she said.
