If a ground-breaking proposal comes to pass, you may soon be saying bon voyage to boarding passes.

In one of the most significant shake-ups to air travel in decades, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has announced plans to eliminate paper boarding passes and check-in as we know it.

Instead, passengers could use a digital travel credential – stored on their smartphones – to move through airports using facial recognition.

A digital ID to pilot the future of travel

Developed by the ICAO, the UN agency that sets global aviation standards, the digital credential would be used alongside facial recognition to replace physical documents throughout the airport, from bag drop to the boarding gate.

Travellers would download a “journey pass” that updates automatically if any changes occur, such as a flight delay or cancellation.

Trials of these novel solutions are already taking off.

Countries such as Finland have already launched a DTC pilot programme, while airports have experimented with the use of this emerging technology. Singapore’s Changi has expanded its biometric lanes, and in 2019, Amsterdam’s Schiphol introduced facial recognition technology for boarding on select flights.

Airlines have also begun to embrace digitalisation. As soon as November this year, Ryanair has announced plans to scrap paper boarding passes.

Why now?

The plan comes as airlines and airports seek to streamline operations and reduce costs, especially as global travel continues its post-pandemic rebound.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the number of air passengers is expected to double to eight billion by 2040. That surge will place pressure on airports to process passengers more efficiently. Digital IDs are seen as a key solution to that growing challenge.

But there’s another motivator: security. The ICAO says the new system could help crack down on identity fraud and human trafficking by providing a more robust way to verify who’s flying.

By relying on biometric data, which is unique to each person, the system promises greater accuracy than paper-based documentation can provide on its own.

Privacy, please

Valérie Viale, director of product management for travel technology company Amadeus, told The Times that these changes could be the most consequential since the adoption of e-ticketing in the early 2000s.

“The industry has now decided it’s time to upgrade to modern systems that are more like what Amazon would use,” she said.

If the plans develop as the ICAO envisions, boarding passes are only the beginning. Even passports could become a thing of the past in the future.

Despite digitalisation being a boon to traveller convenience, not everyone is on board. Critics have voiced concerns about privacy, surveillance and data breaches. Others have decried the lack of transparency around the technologies being deployed.

For its part, Amadeus has sought to reassure travellers. The company has said that its newly developed system will wipe passenger data within 15 seconds of contact with any “touchpoint,” such as baggage drop or pre-security checks.

And the ICAO insists that developing a digital travel credential remains optional for every nation.

That means you can keep your passport and boarding passes on hand for now. But don’t be surprised if your smartphone or face soon becomes your ticket to fly.

Travel businesses are missing out on millions in revenue because their websites are nearly impossible for disabled people to use.

Accessibility in online environments has been assessed by two key players – WebAIM, a nonprofit focused on enhancing the web experience for users with disabilities, and AudioEye, a company specialising in digital accessibility.

Both reports cite travel websites as some of the worst offenders when it comes to accessibility.

WebAIM’s ‘Million’ report assessed accessibility across the top 1,000,000 websites and found that, overall, travel websites had almost 60 errors on their homepage, a 17 per cent increase from last year.

AudioEye’s Digital Accessibility Index identified issues too, with poor colour contrast, vague links and inaccessible forms cited as the most common errors.

The World Health Organisation says one in six of the global population lives with some form of disability. At least 2.2 billion people have a visual impairment, with almost 400 million estimated to have a severe challenge with vision. An estimated 43 million people are registered as blind.

“With around 20 per cent of the population reporting a disability, ignoring accessibility barriers can have a negative impact on a large population of potential customers and site visitors,” Jared Smith, executive director of WebAIM, explains to Euronews Travel.

Much research has been done on the value of catering to disabled travelers. In the UK, the spending power of those with disabilities, known as the ‘purple pound,’ is estimated to exceed £50 billion (€58) in 2025.

“Web accessibility is not only the right thing to do, it is also required by law,” Smith notes. “Because most travel websites have significant accessibility barriers, users with disabilities will spend their time and money at sites that have addressed accessibility issues.”

The best and worst travel websites for accessibility

Booking.com is the most visited travel website in the world, with over 500 million monthly visits. Yet it ranked 712,074th out of the million websites assessed, by far the lowest ranking out of all the major travel companies. Booking.com did not respond to a request for comment.

Airbnb and Trip.com came in around halfway down the ranking, while Agoda ranked 377,532nd. The travel companies doing the best included Uber, ranking just over 8,000th, and Skyscanner, coming in at 1,113th.

For most of the errors detected, the most common problem was low contrast text, detected on 79.1 per cent of the homepages checked. Not providing ‘alternative text’ on images – a sentence describing what the image contains – was a problem for more than half the websites.

Other common issues included missing labels for form inputs, empty links and empty buttons, all of which can make it hard for a visually impaired person to understand the content.

Research from AudioEye found that 41 per cent of travel and hospitality websites made it hard for keyboard-only users to navigate, find information and make bookings. The report also found that colour contrast issues were highest in travel and hospitality across all business segments.

Visually impaired users find it almost impossible to book travel online

Lucy Edwards lost sight in her right eye at age 11 due to a genetic condition. She lost the remainder of her sight at 17. Today, she’s an award-winning presenter, author and disability activist, committed to inclusivity across all industries.

“Travel websites are almost always inaccessible,” Lucy tells Euronews Travel. “Images are not described via text, so I rely on my friends, family, and Husband to describe the beautiful scenes to me.”

But it’s not just the beautiful travel images that people like Lucy miss out on. Problems arise when it comes to booking the trip when websites aren’t formatted for accessible reading.

“It’s so infrequent that I can book a holiday independently,” Lucy says. “I’m always afraid I will book something wrong because there are so many pop-ups that disable my screen reader.”

Screen readers are pieces of software that convert the text displayed on a computer screen into speech or, in some cases, even Braille. It’s a crucial piece of technology in enabling users with visual impairments or learning disabilities to access and interact with digital content.

“Websites as a whole do not cater for screen reader users,” Lucy explains. “As a blind person, I feel frustrated every single day browsing the web.”

The law is changing around website accessibility

The European Accessibility Act (EEA) will come into force on 28 June this year. It sets out standards across EU member states, aiming to remove barriers and ensure that people with disabilities can participate fully in society.

While the EEA applies to more than just websites, a key component is making all websites trading in the EU accessible to everyone. Any company either based in the EU or that does business within the EU with at least 10 employees and a €2 million plus turnover will be expected to comply.

Specifically, the law requires all websites to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for every user. It uses standards set out by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, commonly called WCAG, as a minimum requirement.

In its most basic form of implementation, WCAG requires readable fonts with high contrast colour schemes, clear navigation with descriptive links, alternative text to be included for all images and video captions, and ensuring all interactive elements are keyboard accessible.

Noncompliant companies could face fines and legal action, exclusion from procurement activities and negative publicity.

“Overall the [web] experience has left me in tears,” Lucy confides to Euronews Travel. “I’m so lucky that I have sighted help, but it shouldn’t have to be this way.”

Clearly, the EU agrees with this and is poised to make it uncomfortable for nonconforming businesses. With the EEA just weeks away, it’s time for travel firms to step up their game and make planning, booking and experiencing travel something everyone can enjoy.

Norway has updated its plans for a visitor tax that hopes to tackle the negative effects of overtourism.

The government has announced it is lowering the proposed fee that local authorities will be able to charge tourists.

Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth has confirmed the tax will now be three per cent of the cost of an overnight stay – instead of five per cent.

Norway is experiencing a surge in arrivals as holidaymakers seek cooler climes, hitting a record-breaking 16.7 million overnight stays during the summer months of 2024.

Norway is bringing in a tourist tax

Norway’s tourist tax will be an optional charge that can be levied at the discretion of local authorities.

The revenue will be used to fund projects that will benefit both residents and tourists, such as maintaining hiking trails and installing public toilets.

If implemented by a municipality, the levy will apply to visitors staying in all overnight accommodation, including hotels, hostels, campsites and short-term rentals.

Local authorities can also adjust the fee depending on the season, Myrseth confirmed.

“It is not the case that we have year-round tourism throughout the country, but in some places, there are parts of the year that are particularly demanding, and the expenses that the residents have to pay for are particularly high,” Myserth told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

At the moment, there is no fixed date for the introduction of the visitor fee, though reports say it may come in as early as this summer.

The government still needs to have the bill detailing the tax approved by parliament, but several parties appear to be in opposition to the new levy.

The travel and tourism branch of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) has warned it could put tourists off visiting the destination.

“We are now in a very serious situation. Introducing the tourist tax now is, in any case, madness,” a spokesperson from the NHO told NRK earlier this week.

The proposed tax has also been criticised for only targeting overnight visitors, leaving cruise passengers, day-trippers, and campervanners staying overnight in free public areas not required to pay.

Opponents argue that these are some of the most damaging kinds of visitors, particularly in frequently overwhelmed cruise destinations like the Lofoten Islands and Geiranger fjord.

Norway is experiencing a tourism surge

The Norwegian government has been mulling the introduction of a tourist tax for several years in reaction to surging visitor numbers.

Sweltering temperatures in traditional summer destinations like Italy and Spain are driving a trend for ‘coolcations’ in northern Europe.

Bolstering this is the rising interest in experiencing after-dark phenomena – dubbed ‘noctourism’ – such as the northern lights.

Norway is considered one of the best places for aurora-chasing, and the celestial spectacle is proving to be particularly visible in 2025.