Ryanair has announced that face masks will still be mandatory on flights to 15 EU countries when the general rule on face masks is dropped from next Monday.
Many popular holiday spots will be affected because the countries that will still be affected include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Malta.
Ireland’s biggest airline said they are acting in line with the new advice from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
READ MORE: Checklist of items banned from hand luggage on Ryanair, Aer Lingus and more
The end of the face masks rule was jointly announced by the agencies on Wednesday morning.
But the advice came with the caveat that if a country still has mandatory face masks rules for public transport, then the airline should take precautions too.
The countries that still have some form of mandatory face mask laws in place are Austria, Cyprus, Czech, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Ryanair chief executive, Eddie Wilson, hopes and expects that the popular tourist countries above will change their own public transport facemask rules by next Monday’s deadline.
Mr Wilson said: “We welcome this rule relaxation from EASA and the ECDC effective from Monday, 16th May next.
“From that date, face masks will be optional on all Ryanair flights except those flights to/from the 15 EU States where masks remain mandatory on public transport.
“We expect these States to relax their face mask rules over the coming days in line with these new health guidelines from EASA and the ECDC.
“Intending passengers can check the latest EU face mask regulations on the Re-Open EU website.”
Holidaymakers hitting the skies to many destinations will not have to wear masks from next week.
The news was announced suddenly by European authorities on Wednesday morning after the travel safety authorities agreed the masks on planes rule can go from May 16th.
The DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) told the Mirror last night that it will remain vigilant of Covid risks despite the new relaxing of rules.
“DAA, as the company that manages and operates Dublin and Cork airports, will continue to implement measures that reflect Ireland’s national COVID-19 guidelines and also the best practice in the European aviation sector, as set out in the recent guidelines devised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as we have done since the very onset of the global pandemic in 2020.”
The move will see one of the last Europe-wide Covid restrictions removed as the virus continues to wane in Ireland and our neighbouring European countries.
And it comes just on time for families preparing to jet off on their summer sunny holidays in the coming weeks.
The flight experience was made more stressful and uncomfortable with the necessity to wear masks, especially for parents that had to mask-up kids.
The new recommendations were issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The agencies announced the move after taking into consideration the latest situation with Covid-19 across the EU, including high vaccination rates and the mass easing of restrictions across Europe already.
READ MORE: Irish holidaymakers to get huge boost within days as face mask advice for flights to Europe dropped
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