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BA, Virgin and Heathrow to drop mask mandate on Wednesday, all UK restrictions end Friday

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British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport have announced an end to compulsory mask wearing from Wednesday, following the Government’s announcement that all UK travel restrictions will end on Friday.

Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, tweeted yesterday afternoon that:

“All remaining Covid travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form and tests for all arrivals, will be stood down for travel to the UK from 4am on 18 March. These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout and mean greater freedom in time for Easter.”

All UK travel restrictions to end on Friday, including Passenger Locator Forms

The key winners here are unvaccinated travellers, who will no longer need to take any tests on returning to the UK. This was an inevitable consequence of removing the Passenger Locator Form.

British Airways to end mask wearing from Wednesday

British Airways has announced an end to mask wearing on its aircraft where allowed by law. This will begin on Wednesday.

Cabin crew will continue to wear masks, and passengers will need to continue to wear them where required, such as when flying to – but not from – the United States and to some European countries.

BA said:

“As an international airline we fly to a large number of countries around the world, all of which have their own local restrictions and legal requirements. We’re working through these and from Wednesday March 16, customers will only be required to wear a face covering on board our flights if the destination they’re travelling to requires it. For destinations where the wearing of a face covering is not mandated, our customers are able to make a personal choice, and we kindly request everyone respects each other’s preferences.”

Heathrow will end mask wearing on Wednesday

Heathrow has also announced an end to mask wearing in the terminal, which will also kick in from Wednesday.

Gatwick has not yet made any announcement.

Virgin Atlantic will reportedly end mask wearing on Wednesday

Heathrow Airport has stated in its press release that Virgin Atlantic has also agreed to drop masks from Wednesday. The airline has not confirmed this.

I am seeing Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss on Tuesday morning so we will see what he has to say.

Reaction to the end of UK travel restrictions

In response to Grant Shapps’s announcement, Virgin Atlantic said in a statement:

“The removal of all remaining UK travel restrictions, including the Passenger Locator Form, is the final important step towards frictionless air travel, helping to further restore consumer confidence as we welcome more customers back to the skies this Spring and Summer. With these barriers to travel removed, Britain is open for business and passengers can reconnect with loved ones and business colleagues once again. To uphold the experience of all travellers, it’s vital that the UK Government works closely with industry to ensure the UK border is ready for increasing passengers, as international travel ramps up.”

Airlines UK, the trade body for UK aviation, said:

“Today’s announcement sends a clear message to the world – the UK travel sector is back. With travellers returning to the UK no longer burdened by unnecessary forms and testing requirements, we can now look forward to the return to pre-Covid normality throughout the travel experience.

“We’re grateful for the timing of the announcement as we prepare to welcome back passengers this Easter and Summer, for which we know there is huge pent-up demand, and for the UK’s leadership in being the first major aviation market to remove all remaining restrictions. The time to return to the skies – to enjoy all that makes aviation and international travel great, for families and businesses – is now.”

Whilst many countries have removed maks mandates on the ground, British Airways is the first major international airline to announce that masks need not be worn if not required by local law. It remains to be seen if this will be a popular or unpopular move when it comes to selling tickets.

Comments (246)

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  • jj says:

    Heathrow has also just announced that masks will no longer be required from Wednesday. Sanity returns at last.

  • Roberto says:

    Face nappies are gone forever.
    Imagine how scary it will be for some people to get back to normal and get on with life.

    • sigma421 says:

      Nice to see you’re being mature about it.

    • Josh says:

      Why does it bother you that people cover their faces though?

      What a weird thing to concern yourself over. “Get on with life” such an Anglo selfish way of thinking.

      • lucas01789 says:

        +1

        Amazing that people still see masks as an infringement of their liberty, especially at a time when we are all seeing what it really means to have your freedom restricted.

      • James says:

        I think it bothers Roberto in so much as he feels that his freedoms are being impinged upon, and that everyone must share that same worldview, because heaven forbid somebody use their own freedoms to do something that he disagrees with

      • Jeff77 says:

        Probably the sort of person who droned on about his “mental health” over the last few months even though everything opened in the U.K. last July

      • JerrySignfield says:

        Most people’s problem is not about others wearing masks, its about the mask wearers complaining about people not wearing masks.

    • Andy says:

      I will still be wearing my face nappy.

      • CarpalTravel says:

        I am quite happy to carry on wearing my feet wallets (shoes) too.

        • VinZ says:

          Me too.

          And nope, restriction lifting is not a victory for unvaccinated people. Those who got vaccinated to protect themselves and the others did the right thing because that’s how you behave in society. There are moral rules that go beyond what is legally required or mandated.

          You participate in society by doing what’s best for you and your neighbours, otherwise retire on a mountain or in a cave and never show your face again.

      • Lady London says:

        Chance would be a fine thing.

    • CommonSense says:

      Ever been to Japan? Lol

  • Mark says:

    Do you still need to wear masks on the Eurostar?

    • Andrew says:

      Legal requirement to wear on public transport in France, but they may allow you to be free until half way through the tunnel.

  • lumma says:

    On Sunday flew from Stansted (in a country that doesn’t require facemasks and has no COVID restrictions currently) to Budapest (in a country that doesn’t require facemasks and has no COVID restrictions currently) and everyone had to wear masks for the flight.

    At this point it’s just ludicrous

  • Jeff77 says:

    “ Travellers who are not fully vaccinated have to take a Covid test before departure, fill in the form, and book and pay for a PCR test after arriving.”

    😂

  • Andy S says:

    Great News!

    The Heathrow Airport terminal face mask rules made no sense at all, since you don’t need to wear a face mask on the tube, train or bus to the airport!

  • patrick says:

    “Face nappies” is such an incredibly revealing term.

  • Dave Barron says:

    I’ve got domestic flights from Newcastle to Heathrow in 3 weeks as part of our onward connection to Chicago. Reading between the lines it appears no mandatory masks on either of our domestic legs, but then need to wear masks from LHR to ORD, however not on way home when leaving ORD for LHR.

    Too much to hope the USA scraps the requirement for our need to pay for Supervised testing before we depart 🤞

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