London’s Heathrow airport has dropped all mask mandates in its terminals, bus and train stations and office buildings.
From today, Wednesday, March 16, travellers are no longer required to wear any type of face coverings as the airport moves away from the mandate.
The move follows the UK government’s recent announcement to drop all travel restrictions and testing requirements for international travellers coming into the country.
Heathrow however, “strongly encourages” those at the airport to continue wearing a face covering –although this will no longer be a firm requirement.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic welcomed the move, signalling they will be revising their onboard face covering policies as well.
Commenting on the change, Heathrow Chief Operating Officer Emma Gilthorpe said:
“We have worked hard to keep our passengers and colleagues safe during the pandemic.
We acted quickly to institute face coverings as one of our first lines of defence, and we’re pleased that we’re now able to move away from a mandatory requirement as society learns to live with COVID longer term.
While we still recommend wearing them, we can be confident the investments we’ve made in COVID-secure measures – some of which aren’t always visible – combined with the fantastic protection provided by the vaccine will continue to keep people safe while travelling.
Corneel Koster, Chief Customer & Operating Officer, Virgin Atlantic said:
“As we learn to live with Covid and with the legal requirement to wear a face mask now removed in England, we believe our customers should have the personal choice whether to wear a mask onboard, on routes where international regulations around mask-wearing do not apply.
“This policy will be introduced gradually, beginning with our Caribbean services from Heathrow and Manchester airports and we encourage everyone to be respectful of fellow passengers’ mask preferences.
“Across our network, we continue to adhere to all regulatory requirements both in the UK and in destination countries, recognising that mask requirements differ by market.
“Masks will still be required on many of our routes, including flights operating to or from the United States until 18 April at the earliest.”
Jason Mahoney, British Airways’ Chief Operating Officer said:
“We welcome this as a really positive step forward. As an international airline, we fly to a large number of countries around the world, all of which have their own local restrictions and legal requirements.
“We’re working through these and from Wednesday, March 16, customers will only be required to wear a face covering onboard our flights if the destination they’re travelling to requires it.
“For destinations where the wearing of a face covering is not mandated, our customers are able to make a personal choice, and we kindly request everyone respects each other’s preferences.”
For more information, please visit Heathrow.com.
