Ryanair and EasyJet confirm passengers must wear face masks after July 19

6 July 2021, 15:52

By Polly Foreman

Face coverings will still be mandatory on some planes after lockdown has eased in England.

Ryanair and EasyJet have confirmed that passengers will still be required to wear face coverings on their flights after July 19.

The airlines have stated that they have no plans to drop their requirements for face masks, despite the fact that they will no longer be legally required in England in two week's time.

As reported by ITV, Ryanair said in a statement: "In order to protect the health of our customers and crew, the use of face masks will still be mandatory across all Ryanair flights, regardless of the departing/destination country."

EasyJet added: "At present there are no changes to easyJet’s onboard mask policy and we will continue to keep this under review.

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"We continue to be guided by our inhouse medical adviser and a number of key industry governing bodies that airlines follow including the WHO (World Health Organization), Icao (International Civil Aviation Organisation), Easa (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and public health authorities across Europe, and at present their guidance around the wearing of masks onboard remains unchanged."

Their confirmations come after Boris Johnson announced that face masks will no longer be a legal requirement in settings where they are currently mandatory from July 19.

Instead, it will be up to the individual on whether or not they wear them.

Speaking from Downing Street yesterday, the Prime Minister said that people must "learn to live" with Covid and "exercise judgement".