Europe travel restrictions are increasingly being lifted across the region–15 countries are now much easier to visit across the EU, because the need for tests and paperwork upon entry has been reduced. From May onwards, for instance, Greece will lift it travel restrictions too.
However, many European countries still have mask mandates in place:
- People across Greece will still be wearing them in indoor, public spaces until June and Italy still requires the same.
- In Austria, FFP2 masks are a requirement across supermarkets, for instance, as reported by The Telegraph, and in many regions across Germany, masks are legally required in shops and on public transport.
- France lifted its ban on wearing face masks in public places in March, although they are still required on public transport, in transport hubs such as train stations and in medical establishments. Portugal and Spain share similar rules to France.
These countries are entirely free of masks: the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) and Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Netherlands, and the U.K.
The U.S. also recently lifted its mask mandate on planes and trains after a federal judge in Florida ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, as reported by Reuters. Immediately afterwards, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and national train line Amtrak rescinded their ban on face masks too.
In the U.K., airlines are operating a policy of face masks as mandatory depending on the rules of the destination country. Leading U.K. airline EasyJet no longer requires a mask, therefore, on flights to Northern Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Man, Denmark, Finland, Croatia, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Hungary, Iceland and Poland. The same is true for British Airways and Virgin, who also confirmed that they are no longer needed when crossing the Atlantic.
