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The EU Dropping Mandatory Masks for Airports and Flights

a woman wearing a mask reading a book on an airplane
Written by Charlie

Starting next week, the EU is able to drop their now mask mandate for travel on planes and in airports. But, what does this really mean?

A few weeks ago, the mask mandate in the US for use on airplanes and airports was removed. Now, the EU is set to drop their mask requirements as well. What does this mean?

The EU Dropping Mandatory Masks for Airports and Flights

Unlike the US where there is one federal government, the EU is made up of many member nations and each nation retains their own laws and rules for many things. So, it is a bit more confusing when the EU says they are dropping masks than when the US drops mask usage.

What this means is that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control had agreed today that “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.

So this is a recommendation that is being made and this recommendation is set to kick in on May 16. But, the member nations are not required to follow the recommendation. However, how it works is that the member nations all have representatives in these committees and agencies and when an announcement is made like this, it is done so because the majority of the nations have agreed on it already.

Each country will still be able to require it if they so choose but if this follows the pattern of all other recommendations since the beginning of Covid, plan on EU member nations dropping mask requirements next week.

I am set to fly from Greece to the US next week so will be eager to see if this is adopted by Greece in practice as Greece is typically the longest hold out on a variety of restrictions that were dropped by others. I believe we will see a majority of countries and airlines in the EU follow this recommendation.

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.