Ryanair has issued a warning to its customers that some have been issued with "fake" boarding passes for its flights by a third-party agent.
The airline said Kiwi.com had issued passengers with the passes, which would result in them being refused boarding from today.
Ryanair urged customers to only book direct on its website or app, and to avoid booking though third-party agents who they said do not have authorisation to sell Ryanair flights or to issue boarding passes.
“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,” Ryanair’s director of marketing, Dara Brady, said.
“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.
Refused boarding
Mr Brady said 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,” he said.
“Ryanair check-in opens 24 hrs pre-departure for all passengers and 60 days pre-departure for passengers who have purchased a reserved seat.”
Ryanair said it has a ‘verified seal’ visible on Ryanair.com and the Ryanair app only “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.”
