Face mask requirement dropped in Europe

The requirement to wear face masks in airports and on board European flights has been dropped from today (16 May) following EU authorities’ ruling that the practice is “no longer recommended”.

The update was issued last Wednesday by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

But in spite of relaxing the rule, the organisations maintained that wearing a face mask is still one of the best protections against Covid-19. It is also understood that the way rules are implemented may vary between airlines.

Although face masks will no longer be a requirement on EU flights or in airports within the EU, exceptions will be on flights to or from destinations where EU governments still require mandatory mask wearing on public transport.

At present these are Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, though some of these countries are expected to ease their own rules in the coming days.

www.easa.europa.eu

www.ecdc.europa.eu/en

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum