EU Countries Will No Longer Be Required To Wear Masks When Flying

Earlier this week, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) updated their Covid-19 air travel safety measures. As a result, starting Monday, May 16th, masks will no longer be necessary on flights or in airports.

It’s worth noting that after a federal court struck down the government’s mask rule in April 2022 and some the US airlines followed the suit also.

However, the EASA stated that mask regulations “will continue to vary by airline.”

Individual airlines will be permitted to apply their own mask-wearing policies despite the new recommendations taking effect next week. The EASA and ECDC suggest that masks be worn for flights to or from a destination where masks are required on public transportation.

Advisory From the ECDC

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a new recommendation with some cautionary advice.

The official website of ECDC said;

“Wearing face masks at airports and inflight should be aligned with national measures on wearing masks in public transport and transport hubs. If either the departure or destination States require the wearing of face masks on public transport, aircraft operators should require passengers and crew to comply with those requirements inflight, beyond 16 May 2022.”

“Further, as of 16 May 2022, aircraft operators, during their pre-flight communications as well as during the flight, should continue to encourage their passengers and crew members to wear face masks during the flight as well as in the airport, even when wearing a face mask is not required.”

Patrick Ky, Executive Director at EASA, said:

“From next week, face masks will no longer need to be mandatory in air travel in all cases, broadly aligning with the changing requirements of national authorities across Europe for public transport.”

“It is a relief to all of us that we are finally reaching a stage in the pandemic where we can start to relax the health safety measures,” he added.