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Travellers to Austria, Portugal, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Malta, Estonia, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Latvia, and Spain, regardless of travelling internationally or domestically, remain subject to wearing a face mask while reaching these destinations.
Although the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) has recommended abolishing the mask requirement, which entered force yesterday, May 16, the majority of EU countries didn’t follow suit, imposing the requirement for another undetermined period.
More specifically, an FFO2/N95/KN95 mask is generally required while reaching these destinations, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Furthermore, Spain continues to impose travellers to wear a mask while travelling, with the country’s health minister, Carolina Darians, confirming the requirement. Another EU Member State, largely known for its tourism, Italy, will also keep the face mask requirement on planes until June 15.
The decision to postpone lifting the face mask requirement can also be affected by a threat of another wave of COVID-19, as ECDC earlier this week reclassified Omicron VA.4 and BA.5 strains as variants of concern, considering that a number of COVID-19 cases with this strain have been detected across the 27-nation-bloc, especially in Portugal.
On the other hand, EASA, earlier this week, called for an annulment of the mask requirement for incoming and outgoing travellers in the EU.
“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,” Patrick Ky, the Executive Director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), has said regarding the mask requirement.
As of April, several airlines have lifted the compulsory face mask requirement, such as EasyJet, which requires no face coverings for travellers headed to Northern Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Iceland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Hungary, Poland and Jersey.
Jet2 also has abolished the requirement for a face mask for domestic flights within the UK, while Norwegian, although it has lifted the restriction, advises passengers to check the policies of their destination country before travelling.
As per countries that have lifted their face covering requirement, Eastern European countries such as Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary, in addition to Croatia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and the UK, no face mask is required to reach these destinations.
While Lithuania and Latvia are keeping the restriction in place, their neighbouring country, Estonia, has lifted the requirement entirely.
The Nordic countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden are free of such requirements, too.