RYANAIR has issued an urgent warning to customers over fake boarding passes which will see holidaymakers refused boarding on their flight.

The warning concerns passes issued by Kiwi.com.

Under EU regulation 2015/1998, it is mandatory that passengers complete the Ryanair check-in process directly to ensure passengers are informed of all safety and regulatory protocols required when travelling.

Ryanair say Kiwi.com circumvent these essential aviation regulations by issuing their own boarding cards which are not valid on Ryanair flights.

From today, (August 18) the airline is warning customers that any Ryanair passenger with a boarding pass issued by Kiwi.com will be refused boarding as they have not complied with Ryanair’s safety and security protocols during check-in.

Customers who wish to retrieve an official boarding pass can do so by accessing their booking via Ryanair or on the Ryanair app.

Ryanair’s warning to British holidaymakers

Ryanair’s director of marketing, Dara Brady, said: “We became aware of these fake boarding passes when a small number of passengers who booked their flights through Kiwi.com arrived at the boarding gate without official Ryanair boarding passes last week.

“It is an obligation under EU regulations that an airline informs passengers directly of all safety and security policies regarding their flight, Kiwi.com are circumventing this by checking passengers in and replacing the Ryanair boarding pass with a fake boarding pass issued by Kiwi.com.”

Mr Brady urged customer to ensure they had the right boarding details before checking in.

He added: “Any passenger presenting a Kiwi.com boarding pass will be refused boarding on Ryanair flights.

“If you made a booking through Kiwi.com we urge you to contact Kiwi.com to obtain the necessary Ryanair booking reference and email address so that you can complete check-in in line with our safety and security protocol. Ryanair check-in opens 24 hours pre departure for all passengers and 60 days pre departure for passengers who have purchased a reserved seat.”

Ryanair Verified Seal

Ryanair urges customers to only book direct on the Ryanair website or app and avoid booking via third party agents, such as Kiwi.com, who do not have authorisation to sell Ryanair flights or to issue boarding passes.

Earlier this year, Ryanair introduced the “Verified Seal” to further protect customers against these online travel agents who may be overcharging customers, providing incorrect customer details, and preventing Ryanair from dealing directly with passengers by providing fake email addresses.

Ryanair has secured a court order in Czechia requiring Kiwi to stop replacing customer email addresses with fake email addresses, and preventing Ryanair from communicating directly with its passengers, however Kiwi is not yet complying with that order. The Verified Seal is a guarantee for customers that they are booking directly on the Ryanair website and our branded tick which is visible on Ryanair.com and Ryanair app only.