Do I have to wear a mask on my flight? All the current UK airline rules

Most of the UK’s major airlines began easing their mask rules at slightly different paces back in spring 2022, making it slightly tricky to follow the current guidelines.

Several carriers have announced that face coverings will no longer be compulsory on all of their flights, but most still have a handful of routes on which you will have to wear them.

For some countries, a specific quality and style of mask is needed for flights, while for others, neither departure country nor the destination require one.

Meanwhile Heathrow Airport is no longer demanding people wear masks in its terminals (though, confusingly, it still recommends doing so).

The EU ended its bloc-wide mask mandate on 16 May, meaning it no longer requires all European airlines to demand masks, with carriers able to make their own rules; meanwhile in the US, the federal mask mandate was overturned on 19 April, meaning masks are now optional on all flights operating from and within the US.

So do you have to wear (or at least pack) a mask for your next flight?

Here’s the current situation across the UK and Ireland’s major airlines.

EasyJet

Only on flights to and from 10 destinations.

On 27 March easyJet relaxed rules to the point where masks are not mandatory on flights where neither the departure point nor the destination demands them. For example, with England and Iceland both having relaxed their Covid rules, passengers on London to Reykjavik planes can choose not to wear a mask (though they are welcome to, of course).

This “mask optional” policy now applies to all but 10 destinations listed on easyJet’s website. They are: Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia.

For Germany, this means “an FFP2 or medical-grade ​mask” specifically. For the others, a surgical-style or cloth face mask will do – easyJet specifies “no scarves, face visors or masks with valves”.

If you’re not flying to or from any of these countries on easyJet, you will have to mask up, whichever way you fly. And it’s worth packing one regardless in case of last-minute rule changes or a need for one at your arrival point. “Many of the countries we fly to still legally require that masks are worn and you may need one at the airport, at the gate and during your flight,” warns the airline.

British Airways

As with easyJet, masks are now optional on BA flights, except where the country you’re flying to or from demands them. It says: “As an…