![]() Over the past couple of weeks, as parts of Britain have lifted other types of travel and mask requirements, some airports and airlines have suspended their mask rules, among them, London’s Heathrow Airport, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Nonetheless, most British airlines and airports began requiring masks in June 2020, when Britain started mandating masks on other forms of transport. Unlike the United States, England never instituted a governmental mask mandate for air travel. Here is a look at the confusing state of mask wear in the sky. But there she was with four hours ahead of her in a cabin full of unmasked flight attendants and mostly unmasked passengers. Because her mother is being treated for cancer, she has spent months avoiding crowded indoor situations. “It was very unsettling,” said Rebecca Kift, 37, a clinical biochemist from Leeds, England, who had no idea that the British airline TUI Airways Limited had lifted its mask requirement until she boarded her flight to Manchester from Spain’s Gran Canaria island last Monday. Republican lawmakers, who recently sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end the mask mandate for air travel, call the rule “arbitrary.” But some travel health experts and passengers say airplane cabins and airports should take a more careful approach. Travel Association, an industry group, have been lobbying the White House not to extend the mandate further, saying it’s difficult to rationalize mask rules in the sky, given that authorities have already lifted them in other indoor locations. In the United States, the International Air Transport Association, which represents nearly 300 airlines, and the U.S. “First flight done without a mask and it was an absolute dream,” a woman, who identified herself as a flight attendant from Yorkshire, England, on her social media accounts, recently wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of her fully visible smile. Some airline employees in England rejoiced at their reclaimed freedom from enforcing mask rules at 30,000 feet. Over the last year, 922 of those who didn’t wear masks received fines from the Transportation Security Administration, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.īut there are hints that the tide may be turning: Within the past few weeks, Danish airports and London’s Heathrow Airport have lifted their mask requirements, as have several major British airlines. ![]() In the United States, for example, the mask mandate - which was recently extended to April 18, when it comes up for review again - is still enforced. Air travel has been one of the last holdouts for strict pandemic mask requirements.
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