Ryanair to charge £5 for web check-in

Ryanair, the no-frills airline, is to scrap all its airport check-in desks and charge passengers £5 a flight to check in online.

From 20 May all new Ryanair passenger bookings, including those travelling with infants and checked-in bags, will move to online check-in and ‘bag-drop’ only.

The company, which carried 5.3 million passengers in April, will replace its current £10 airport check-in fee per person per flight with a £5 online check-in fee. According to Ryanair, the changes will mean it can cut the cost of its air fares.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: "Passengers travelling without checked-in bags have already embraced our online check-in service and the extension of this service to all passengers, including those with hold luggage and those travelling with infants will allow all passengers to forever avoid check-in queues.

"This will also allow Ryanair to lower our airport and handling costs and pass these savings to all passengers in the form of even lower air fares next winter."

Using Ryanair’s web check-in service, passengers can check-in from 15 days to four hours before, and print, or re-print, their boarding card up to 40 minutes prior to their scheduled departure time. Anyone that turns up without a boarding pass will pay a £40 charge at the airport.

Web check-in can be accessed via ryanair.com using booking confirmation numbers or flight details.

www.ryanair.com