German Airlines Oppose Mask Requirement for Winter Season
According to the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (BARIG), the decision to make FFP2 masks mandatory on flights to and from the country was unreasonable, and it doesn’t align with current international laws, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
“There is no epidemiological basis for such a step… We appeal to the German Federal Parliament and Federal Council to revise the legislative proposal,” BARIG secretary general Michael Hoppe, representing over 100 national and international airlines, said.
A face covering during flights is no longer mandatory at German airports, while the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), as well as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), announced in May that mask requirement was no longer mandatory.
According to Hoppe, reinstating the mask requirement would put the country’s air traffic at a disadvantage with international competition, and the strict regulation by the German state is unjustified.
German air carrier Lufthansa has also objected to the plan and also called for improvements in the further legislative process. A spokesperson of the flag carrier said for BTN Europe that different regulations are coherent for travellers.
“This leads to conflicts on board, which are a strain on our crews. In many other areas of daily life in Germany, for example, in the supermarket or in restaurants, the mask requirement has long been abolished. It is difficult to justify that masks should continue to be worn in aircraft, of all places, where highly efficient filters constantly clean the cabin air,” the spokesperson said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused all countries to experience a sharp drop in the number of arrivals, as travelling activity was severely limited.
Data from Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, shows that the number of overnight stays recorded in the country in April reached 18.8 million, down by almost 10 million compared to 2019 levels when 27.8 nights were spent in German accommodation facilities.
In addition, data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals that the total number of cases recorded in Germany since the pandemic started is over 32 million, with 195,413 of those being reported in the last seven days. In addition, death rates stand at 147,642 – 53 of which were reported in the recent week.
While the number of positive cases has decreased, the total vaccine doses administered per 100 population has peaked at 221.8, and the number of people with the last dose of primary series per 100 population is 61.95.
