A SPANISH APPEALS COURT has ruled that Ryanair is lawfully permitted to charge passengers to reissue a boarding card if a passenger has lost their card, forgotten to bring it with them, or not checked in online.

The ruling overturns that of a previous court, which had said the fee – currently at €40 – was not permissable under Spanish and EU law, because it denied passengers the chance to travel on a flight they had already paid for.

In a brief statement, Ryanair said the penalty was levied on fewer than 1 per cent of their passengers, who had failed “to comply with their agreement, given at the time of booking, they they will check in online” before travelling to the airport.

A spokesman for the airline said the initial ruling was “the first of a number of bizarre lower court rulings in Barcelona which we expect will be overturned on appeal.”

He urged all passengers on the airline to ensure that they had checked in online before arriving at their departure airport, which would mean they would not be liable to the €40 penalty and could also avoid check-in queues.