The EU has dropped mask mandates for flights to EU countries and in airports as of May 16th.

[terrydtx]

Wearing masks in airports and on flights to all EU counties will become optional starting May 16th. This means we can fly for 10 hours to Italy and sleep without a mask on the plane. Do not want to start a mask debate but optional means if you feel safer, you can wear one.  

 

EU Will Scrap Mask Mandate For Air Travel (msn.com)

[txtechmk]

Wow.....good to know......even though I still wear one in airports and flights, I was dreading wearing one on our long flight to Amsterdam later this month.  At least I can remove it for a little while to sleep if I need to.  Thanks, Terry!

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, txtechmk said:

Wow.....good to know......even though I still wear one in airports and flights, I was dreading wearing one on our long flight to Amsterdam later this month.  At least I can remove it for a little while to sleep if I need to.  Thanks, Terry!

We are flying to Rome in August business class so we are not sitting next to any strangers who could have covid. If I was sitting next to a stranger I might feel differently. We are flying BC as it is better social distancing. Even domestically we are only flying first class for the same reason.

[txtechmk]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We are flying to Rome in August business class so we are not sitting next to any strangers who could have covid. If I was sitting next to a stranger I might feel differently. We are flying BC as it is better social distancing. Even domestically we are only flying first class for the same reason.

We fly business class also when we fly internationally.   

[danv3]

Restrictions and requirements slowly dropping away.  Now let's see the US drop the foolish return testing requirement!

[Mkripke]

I am flying AirFrance, waiting for the official word from them

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, Mkripke said:

I am flying AirFrance, waiting for the official word from them

It looks like Air France has not updated their mask protocols since June 2021. They are way behind the times and a good reason to not fly with them for now.

[steamboats]

It depends on the EU country you are flying into. Spain and Italy - you don´t need any masks anymore. But here in Germany we have masks still mandatory in public transportation which includes flights. So when you fly into Munich or Frankfurt for transiting to Italy or Spain or whereever you still need to wear masks.

 

steamboats

[canderson]

20 minutes ago, steamboats said:

It depends on the EU country you are flying into. Spain and Italy - you don´t need any masks anymore. But here in Germany we have masks still mandatory in public transportation which includes flights. So when you fly into Munich or Frankfurt for transiting to Italy or Spain or whereever you still need to wear masks.

 

steamboats

Nuts.  We're DEN-FRA-BCN.  Hope things change in DE before October when we sail.  Then again, 5-1/2 months is a long time away.

[terrydtx]

39 minutes ago, steamboats said:

It depends on the EU country you are flying into. Spain and Italy - you don´t need any masks anymore. But here in Germany we have masks still mandatory in public transportation which includes flights. So when you fly into Munich or Frankfurt for transiting to Italy or Spain or whereever you still need to wear masks.

 

steamboats

The new ruling today from the EASU drops the mandates on all flights to or from the EU member countries and Germany is part of the EU. This becomes effective next Monday and I believe would lift any German restrictions. This ruling has no effect on any other public transportation other than flights and airports. I may be wrong but from what I have read from the EASU, Germany is not exempt from their ruling on flights and airports.

[asnaleah]

Now I’ll be able to sleep with my Cpap!

[Bo1953]

Before wide spread jubilation and arriving at the airport without checking the protocols for each EU country and airline, one may want to start reading here on CC and ask any questions to gain a 'better' understanding on how this may or may not be implemented....

 

... and add your knowledge of ruling/policy to the discussion.

 

bon voyage

[yogini06]

6 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Before wide spread jubilation and arriving at the airport without checking the protocols for each EU country and airline, one may want to start reading here on CC and ask any questions to gain a 'better' understanding on how this may or may not be implemented....

 

... and add your knowledge of ruling/policy to the discussion.

 

bon voyage

This is helpful.  Thank you!

[canderson]

22 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Before wide spread jubilation and arriving at the airport without checking the protocols for each EU country and airline, one may want to start reading here on CC and ask any questions to gain a 'better' understanding on how this may or may not be implemented....

 

... and add your knowledge of ruling/policy to the discussion.

 

bon voyage

Ah, yes.  The devil was in the details all along.

 

A little longer quote than the one supplied in the other thread makes an important distinction.  The primary caveat is where a flight is to/from a destination that requires masking for public transport.  At present, the U.S. does not require this, and I don't think there are any EU countries that require it at this time, so one would therefore assume that any trans-Atlantic US/EU flights would be exempt from any masking requirements.  The example of flights in and out of the EU to a country that required public transport masking appears to show what kind of exceptions are to be expected.

 

"The new recommendations on the wearing of face masks are set to come into effect from May 16, 2022. However rules for masks in particular will continue to vary by airline beyond that date. For example, flights to or from a destination where mask-wearing is still required on public transport should continue to encourage mask wearing, according to the recommendations."

[Edinburghgirl1]

See below states  until 15th June FFP2 masks are still required on all flights flying to italy

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/coronavirus

Edited May 11, 2022 by Edinburghgirl1

[Purplsmurf]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

It depends on the EU country you are flying into. Spain and Italy - you don´t need any masks anymore. But here in Germany we have masks still mandatory in public transportation which includes flights. So when you fly into Munich or Frankfurt for transiting to Italy or Spain or whereever you still need to wear masks.

 

steamboats

Italy definitely still requires masks on planes, airports, trains and other places.

[sunlover33]

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

Italy definitely still requires masks on planes, airports, trains and other places.

The wording is ‘encouraged’  not ‘mandatory’ on flights  

 

The new recommendations on the wearing of face masks are set to come into effect from May 16, 2022. However rules for masks in particular will continue to vary by airline beyond that date. For example, flights to or from a destination where mask-wearing is still required on public transport should continue to encourage mask wearing, according to the recommendations.

Edited May 11, 2022 by sunlover33

[Covepointcruiser]

Great, even more chance of catching COVID while traveling to your cruise!    Of course Celebrity will still be blamed when you end up with COVID after you board.    Great to know that you won’t catch COVID in Business/Polaris Class.    On our last flight to Athens, there were 48 of us in Business Class so we had many chances to catch COVID if we hadn’t been wearing masks.

[canderson]

4 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Great, even more chance of catching COVID while traveling to your cruise!  

Perhaps by the time we next cruise they'll have ceased dealing all who test positive as though they are Thyphoid Mary through the use of zero-COVID protocols.

[canderson]

^^^^^

Wow - typing on phones is interesting.  Capitalize something, and it won't spell check (Typhoid, not Thyphoid) to let you know you fat fingered/thumbed something, but spell something correctly, and just watch how fast it thinks it knows better.

 

[RichYak]

8 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The new ruling today from the EASU drops the mandates on all flights to or from the EU member countries and Germany is part of the EU. This becomes effective next Monday and I believe would lift any German restrictions. This ruling has no effect on any other public transportation other than flights and airports. I may be wrong but from what I have read from the EASU, Germany is not exempt from their ruling on flights and airports.

From what I’ve read, this ruling is not binding. EU countries are free to set their own mandates/policies though most are expected to fall in line. 

[steamboats]

10 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The new ruling today from the EASU drops the mandates on all flights to or from the EU member countries and Germany is part of the EU. This becomes effective next Monday and I believe would lift any German restrictions. This ruling has no effect on any other public transportation other than flights and airports. I may be wrong but from what I have read from the EASU, Germany is not exempt from their ruling on flights and airports.

 

It´s not a EU rule but just a recommendation! And the laws of the courtries are the ones which count. And here in Germany we still have mandatory masks in public transportation. Flying is regarded as public transportation here in Germany.

 

I think I might know my laws better than you 😉 - and BTW that´s what they said in our German TV news too. We still have to wear masks on flights when either flying to Germany or from Germany.

 

steamboats

[Edinburghgirl1]

We’re flying into Rome 5 days before our cruise so I’ll be wearing a mask on the flight even though it’s only 2 and a half hours for me. Not risking catching Covid before my pre cruise Covid test. 

[Edinburghgirl1]

2 minutes ago, steamboats said:

 

It´s not a EU rule but just a recommendation! And the laws of the courtries are the ones which count. And here in Germany we still have mandatory masks in public transportation. Flying is regarded as public transportation here in Germany.

 

I think I might know my laws better than you 😉 - and BTW that´s what they said in our German TV news too. We still have to wear masks on flights when either flying to Germany or from Germany.

 

steamboats

Pretty sure it’s still the case for flights to Italy too until at least June 15th. 

[B x]

We'll still be wearing ours as well when we travel to Rome on June 11th.

 

A mail from BA this morning which I guess was prompted by the EU announcement yesterday, rather ambiguous in part, but basically wearing one on board rests with the requirements of the destination Country, so it's a yes for Italy until 15th June. No requirement to wear one at Heathrow now.