{"id":1383383,"date":"2022-03-16T08:08:39","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T12:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1383383"},"modified":"2022-03-16T08:08:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T12:08:50","slug":"british-airways-and-virgin-atlantic-embrace-freedom-remove-mask-mandates-on-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/british-airways-and-virgin-atlantic-embrace-freedom-remove-mask-mandates-on-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Embrace Freedom, Remove Mask Mandates on Flights"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbritish-airways-and-virgin-atlantic-embrace-freedom-remove-mask-mandates-on-flights%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1383383&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">British Airways has become the world\u2019s first major airline to remove mask mandates onboard the aircraft for passengers from Wednesday, in a move shortly followed by Virgin Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s second-largest airline firm announced on Tuesday that they will <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/British_Airways\/status\/1503729049050353665\">no longer require<\/a> passengers to wear masks on board their planes and will instead allow people to \u201cmake a personal choice\u201d on the matter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Yet, British Airways did note that there will be an exception for flights to countries with their own \u201crestrictions and legal requirements,\u201d which currently includes nations such as the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Virgin Atlantic also announced that they will be dropping mask requirements, albeit with a more\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10614247\/British-Airways-Virgin-Atlantic-scrap-face-masks-routes-government-ends-travel-curbs.html\">graduated approach<\/a>, by starting with removing mask requirements for passengers travelling between London or Manchester and the Caribbean from Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs 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 on board, on routes where international regulations around mask-wearing do not apply,\u201d said Corneel Koster, Virgin Atlantic\u2019s\u00a0chief operating officer.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The two companies join British airline Jet 2 which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jet2.com\/en\/flights\/safe-travel\/our-face-mask-policy\">announced<\/a> in early March that passengers will no longer be required to wear masks on any of their flights in England and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">From 16 March, our face mask policy is changing. <\/p>\n<p>Where we\u2019re clear the destination you\u2019re travelling to doesn\u2019t require a face mask on board, it will become optional \ud83d\ude37 \u2708\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Please continue to respect fellow passengers&#8217; mask preferences in these instances.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BritishAirways?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BritishAirways<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vgh5ws7DfO\">pic.twitter.com\/vgh5ws7DfO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 British Airways (@British_Airways) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/British_Airways\/status\/1503729049050353665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The news comes as British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that the UK will be scrapping all remaining travel rules related to coronavirus, meaning that regardless of vaccination status, individuals arriving in Britain will not need to complete passenger locator forms,\u00a0<em>The Times<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/british-airways-scraps-facemasks-on-flights-cr93blmhr\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s largest airport, Heathrow \u2014 while still advising passengers to wear masks \u2014 is also set to retire the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/news-and-advice\/heathrow-british-airwaysvirgin-atlantic-mask-b2035605.html\">requirements<\/a> in its terminals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re gearing up for a busy summer travel season, and this change means we can look forward to welcoming our passengers back with a smile as we get them safely away on their journeys,\u201d Heathrow\u2019s\u00a0chief operating officer Emma Gilthorpe said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>There are currently no domestic coronavirus requirements in England as mask-wearing, isolation periods, and testing rules were all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/coronavirus?gclid=CjwKCAjw8sCRBhA6EiwA6_IF4QEXGqRmKJk4sGSQZCXW6BGMxmx0D7b7vo9VVRp5zCOl0zM1FMgDIhoCqrQQAvD_BwE\">scrapped<\/a> on the\u00a024th of February.<\/p>\n<p>The return to normality in travel comes despite airline Tsars incorrectly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/02\/masks-to-be-mandatory-on-commercial-flights-for-years-to-come\/\">warning<\/a>\u00a0in February that mask requirements could remain on planes for years to come.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Masks to be Mandatory on Commercial Flights for Years to Come <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Lmt8eDGIOZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/Lmt8eDGIOZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1488919894313738244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While the UK is moving to remove restrictions, all American airlines still require masks to be worn <a href=\"https:\/\/eu.usatoday.com\/story\/travel\/airline-news\/2022\/02\/25\/mask-mandate-travel-cdc-guidelines\/6938530001\/\">throughout<\/a> journeys, with Democrat President Joe Biden maintaining the federal mask mandate requirements until at least the 18th of March when they are up for renewal. The White House has so far not made any indication that they plan to let the mandate expire.<\/p>\n<p>Those who do not comply with the mask <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/03\/02\/bare-faced-flyers-european-airlines-dropping-mask-mandates\/\">requirements<\/a> on planes face fines of\u00a0$500 for first-time offenders, which increases up to $3000 for those who refuse a second time.<\/p>\n<p>The American mask mandate \u2013 for planes, airports, trains and other public transport \u2013 remains in place despite the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcing changes to its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eu.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/health\/2022\/02\/25\/covid-cdc-indoor-mask-guidelines\/6937810001\/\">guidelines<\/a>, meaning that the vast majority of Americans no longer have to wear masks indoors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British Airways has become the world\u2019s first major airline to remove mask mandates onboard the aircraft for passengers from Wednesday, in a move shortly followed by Virgin Atlantic. Britain\u2019s second-largest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1383383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1383383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1383383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1383383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}