Fake boarding passes. Ryanair warns passengers

Boarding passes issued by Kiwi.com will not be accepted as of Wednesday, August 18.

The airline will instruct passengers who wish to obtain their official boarding pass by booking on the airline’s website or in the app.

It also notes that “Verified by Ryanair” certification was introduced earlier this year in order to “increase customer protection from online travel agents, which could inflate fares, provide incorrect customer details and prevent Ryanair from directly contacting passengers by submitting fake email addresses.”

The carrier reported that the Kiwi.com portal, despite a Czech court ruling, continues to replace passengers’ email addresses with fake accounts, preventing the airline from contacting customers.

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

As he explained, “As per EU regulations, the airline must inform passengers directly of all safety and security measures related to their flight. Kiwi.com circumvents the rules by registering passengers and replacing Ryanair’s boarding pass with a fake boarding pass issued by Kiwi.com.”

Ryanair emphasizes that passengers who have booked their flight via Kiwi.com must contact the portal to obtain their Ryanair reservation number and booked email address for self-check-in as per security procedures.

Ryanair check-in opens 24 hours prior to departure for all passengers and 60 days prior to departure for passengers who have booked a particular seat.