Mask requirement on the plane: Which airlines no longer apply and who still adheres to it
Created: 05/05/2022, 08:10
By: Franziska Kaindl
Some airlines no longer make masks compulsory.
© MiS/Imago
Sitting on a plane without a mask – that sounds unusual to many.
For some airlines in Europe, however, the mask requirement has already been dropped.
The face mask has been our constant companion for almost two years.
It is all the more unusual when the mask requirement suddenly ceases to exist in some areas.
For example, the Federal Government’s Infection Protection Act only provides for a mask requirement in local public transport and in health facilities.
But what about airplanes?
Lufthansa, Eurowings & Co.: What applies to the mask requirement for German airlines?
"In the new Infection Protection Act, the mask requirement remains in public transport and thus also in air traffic," said a
Eurowings
spokeswoman at the end of March, according to the
editorial network Germany (RND)
.
“Medical or FFP2 masks must therefore continue to be worn on board our flights.” The latter must be worn on flights to Austria, for example, according to the airline’s website.
A surgical mask is not sufficient here.
The airlines
Lufthansa
and
Tuifly
are also doing this.
Only those who eat meals or want to drink something on board are allowed to remove the mask for a short period of time, like Tuifly the
RND
informed.
As long as there are no new requirements from the authorities, "the applicable rules will continue to be implemented on board," according to the airline.
In addition, travelers must note that masks are also compulsory in the airport building.
Many European airlines are relaxing the mask requirement
For the time being, there is no end in sight to the mask requirement in public transport in Germany.
But the situation is different in many other European countries.
Numerous British airlines have lifted their mask requirement for flights within Great Britain and Northern Ireland: "From March 16, our mask rules will change," informed
British Airways
on Twitter.
If there is no mask requirement in the destination country, it is optional on board, they say.
However, travelers should respect it if other passengers want to continue wearing a face mask.
The airlines
Jet2
,
Virgin Atlantic
and the
British Tui Airways
handle it in a similar way.
Easyjet
also overturned the mask requirement on some routes on
March
27th
- these now include flights between
England, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Man, Denmark, Finland, Croatia, Sweden, Scotland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Switzerland, Iceland and Poland
.
On routes from, to or within Germany, Italy and Austria, passengers aged six and over must wear an FFP2 mask.
Ryanair
announced something similar: A surgical mask must be worn during the flight and in the airport – an FFP2 mask is mandatory for routes to, from or within Germany, Italy or Austria.
However, the Scandinavian airlines SAS, Norwegian, Flyr and Widerøe
were pioneers in abolishing the mask requirement
: Passengers here have not had to wear a face mask since autumn last year - at least on Scandinavian routes.
In the USA, too, there is currently no nationwide mask requirement on public transport.
After a federal judge declared the Corona regulation invalid, US airlines suspended the use of masks on board their planes for passengers and employees, as reported by the aero.de portal.
(fk)