Ryanair is denying it is using a sneaky trick to charge customers for printing boarding passes.

Customers have been complaining that digital boarding passes were only available if they paid up to £21 to choose a seat allocation.

Passengers can select a randomly allocated seat but it will not give then a boarding pass, several customers posted online.

Instead, they have to queue for one at check-in.

The airline rejects the accusation it charges for boarding passes but hasn’t refuted what passengers have said in their complaints.

“All Ryanair passengers can pay for a reserved seat if they so wish or if passengers wish to avoid this seat fee, they can select a randomly allocated seat entirely free of charge,” a Ryanair spokesperson said.

Customer complaints have been flooding social media in the past few days.

One post on X said: “When and why did you start this carry on? I now have to QUEUE to collect my boarding pass at the airport?”

“I can’t believe your new policy of not allowing passengers to create a boarding pass unless they buy a seat, forcing them to join a check-in queue. Scandalous,” another said.

“The app said if I opted for a free random seat  I’d have to go to check-in to get a paper boarding pass, which I’ve never seen before,” passenger Neil Buckley told the BBC.

“If you wanted a digital boarding pass, it said you had to pay for a reserved seat. I was really annoyed.”

One passenger posted on social media that Ryanair staff said the new policy was for the last 20 passengers checking in for a flight.

They said the policy was quietly introduced in the past few days.

It comes as the government held a public consultation and looks at restricting drip pricing and improving price transparency.

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