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

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• yorkieflyer says:

  14 Mar14 March 20:33

  many destinations eg US and SA still mandate face masks on board so it really will just be a confusing mess

  • Roberto says:

    14 Mar14 March 20:36

    How will we all cope?

  • Paula says:

    14 Mar14 March 20:42

    What about Spain?

    • mkcol says:

      15 Mar15 March 11:32

      What about Spain?

      • Andreas says:

        15 Mar15 March 20:05

        Spain will take a while to remove mandatory masks indoors and on public transport. They basically wait and see what big brothers France and Germany do and then copy them a few weeks later. So until those countries don’t ease up and Spain follows, we still have to wait.

• Jack says:

  14 Mar14 March 20:42

  Good riddance I say whilst it will only apply on some routes definitely a step in the right direction. Good riddance to our vaccine programme that made this possible

• Sarah says:

  14 Mar14 March 20:46

  Total Rubbish to say that: “The key winners here are unvaccinated travellers, who will no longer need to take any tests on returning to the UK.” This got nothing to do with the unvaccinated. It’s all about the money. It’s now unsafe for any unvaccinated person to travel. I will still be wearing my face mask even more now because everyone will not be wearing it. I don’t want anyone germs / virus.

  • Sam says:

    14 Mar14 March 20:58

    I hope you won’t be inundated by the anti-vax/masks claiming there’s no use of face masks without any cogent evidence. The only way to go for me is avoiding travelling with these airlines on short-haul flights. There are often alternatives to BA, be it another airline running the same route or just drive instead of taking domestic flights. I won’t be too bothered by long-haul flights as I only travel in J class or above meaning the seats are already enclosed and come with natural dividers.

    • Simon says:

      14 Mar14 March 21:07

      Sam ! Why haven’t you published your research paper about Business Class seats preventing Covid??
      Could have saved the whole world a lot of faff.

  • Patrick Cold says:

    14 Mar14 March 20:58

    A baffling response.

  • Simon says:

    14 Mar14 March 20:59

    It’s all about the money money money !!
    Oh Sarah. How so ??

    Good luck wearing your mask “even more” now. Enjoy it. Take pleasure in freaking out the kids in the airport who wonder if they are in a hospital or mental home. Or if they are in danger.

    • dougzz99 says:

      14 Mar14 March 21:22

      That is a really weird theory on kids view of mask wearing.

      • GM says:

        15 Mar15 March 09:28

        Indeed. The only ones seemingly traumatised and throwing tantrums are the adults who call them face nappies and suchlike. Wild to be so upset by such a minor inconvenience that aims to reduce the risk of people getting sick. Must be an exhausting life.
        And yes, I’ll continue to wear my mask, as I’ve been doing prior to now. The government doesn’t care about my health, nor do these businesses. Personal responsibility and all that.

      • Lady London says:

        15 Mar15 March 10:25

        Trouble is, that view from their responsible adults will infect the children.

        Surely we all teach our kids when we’re out and about that there are all sorts of other different types of people in the world and that any differences should just be accepted? Or even that some people can’t do.some things the kids can, and aren’t the kids lucky.

        The above remark looked weird. Like some of the hysteria you sometimes seem to see – that should still be respected – in middle America.

  • Robert says:

    15 Mar15 March 00:14

    Totally agree with you, in fact now I will wear two masks!!!

    Idiots supporting this.

• Ian says:

  14 Mar14 March 21:09

  What a dull set of responses on both sides of the argument. Personally, I don’t get the giddily triumphant posts from those who don’t want to wear masks nor the downbeat, over-anxious posts from those that do. If you thought that face masks weren’t necessary or an infringement on your liberty in the months up to now, the rest of the world disagreed with you. If you think that everyone should be compelled to wear a mask unendingly, it’s time to get some perspective.

  Wear a mask if you want, or don’t. The crisis phase of the pandemic is over and it’s time for people to take personal responsibility for themselves and respect the choices that others make too.

  • Marcw says:

    14 Mar14 March 21:30

    It’s all about social class.

    • Mike says:

      15 Mar15 March 07:23

      Too right – I only shopped in Waitrose during the height of the pandemic even though I do like a little bit of LIDL/ALDI – I felt much more secure

      • Lady London says:

        15 Mar15 March 10:27

        Oh dear that would be me 🙂

• Simon says:

  14 Mar14 March 21:27

  How do you think kids view the 10% of people wearing a mask when 90% aren’t ?
  You don’t think they get spooked or alarmed by it ?
  You think they understand the nuances and reasons?
  Or do you think they just get confused and scared ?

  • Ian says:

    14 Mar14 March 21:31

    I think that most kids are far more resilient than you give them credit for. Your personal dislike of others putting a piece of cloth over their mouth and nose, on the other hand, sounds disproportionately irrational. You might want to speak to a therapist.

    Add I said, wear a mask or don’t. I don’t see why the choice of one person in that respect should offend another.

  • Yolo says:

    14 Mar14 March 21:34

    Lol, are you also spooked by people wearing turbans, head scarves, etc?

  • jimboandthejetset says:

    14 Mar14 March 21:48

    Simon, let me answer your questions:
    – if they’re observant, they’ll be curious and interested; if they’re stuck in a book/tablet/device they won’t notice.
    – no.
    – no, but I am sure their accompanying adult will give them a broad-brush response, proportionate to the number of follow up “why?” questions the child wants to continue with.
    – no, unless they’ve been told to be confused by or scared of people wearing masks.

  • CarpalTravel says:

    15 Mar15 March 06:23

    “Ohhh, won’t somebody please think of the children!”

  • Rob says:

    15 Mar15 March 07:20

    Got kids? They are remarkably flexible, far more than adults.

  • Rui N. says:

    15 Mar15 March 07:27

    How very weird. If you know any children like that, I can assure they didn’t arrive at such stupid conclusions by themselves. Also, I’d like to know why people in a mental home would be wearing masks. Do you think mental conditions spread by droplets in the air? You seem quite confused about things. Poor children indeed.

    • David S says:

      15 Mar15 March 10:17

      My daughter is in a mental care facility and wears a mask everywhere she goes. It’s because the various medications she has received cause problems with her immune system. She is taking her first flight in 20 years later this week . If she gets stuck overseas due to Covid she won’t be able to access more vital medicine. Some people like her will still need to wear masks. Don’t knock the mentally ill

      • Rui N. says:

        15 Mar15 March 13:27

        What the hell? Maybe direct that comment to the person that originated my comment, no? I’m not the one that said that people wearing masks is a sign that you are either in a hospital or a mental home. Jeez.

  • jjoohhnn says:

    15 Mar15 March 10:10

    My three year old has seen myself and many other people, including staff at her nursery or people in shops wearing masks for the last ~two years. She is completely unfazed. She would not be spooked or alarmed by it. If it was a new thing to see, then she would be curious.

    The only thing that may scare her would be if someone has some kind of freaky or scary print on the outside of their mask..

  • Lady London says:

    15 Mar15 March 10:27

    Only if their responsible elders make them confused and scared, Simon.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    15 Mar15 March 13:49

    I knew we’d get angry confrontational responses to this post on both sides of the argument (not too fussed either way myself). Just wasn’t expecting a world-view quite as weird as someone who thinks kids are confused and scared by something as simple (and, now, as familiar) as a facemask.

    • Tim says:

      15 Mar15 March 15:34

      Facemasks are undeniably an impairment to verbal and non-verbal communication.

      Kids may be resilient etc, but there are some big concerns that the younger the child is the greater the negative impact of not seeing faces and mouths will have had on their development.

• Bimbo says:

  14 Mar14 March 22:28

  BA, Virgin and Heathrow are not dropping any mandate. It was their requirement, not a mandate. Mandates cannot be issued by private organisations.

  • JDB says:

    14 Mar14 March 22:43

    The requirement to wear a mask at Heathrow is/was a by-law, not just a ‘requirement’ by the airport.

    • Bimbo says:

      14 Mar14 March 23:06

      And in BA’s and Virgins’s too? Can you show me where in the Heathrow byelaws it is then?

      • JDB says:

        14 Mar14 March 23:55

        It is in The Heathrow Airport – London Byelaws 2014 (as amended). The powers for HAL to make such byelaws are derived from the Airports Act 1986 and the Criminal Justice Act 1982. The airlines to which you refer do not have such powers.

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          15 Mar15 March 13:50

          Think you’ve been pwned, Bimbo 😀

        • Bimbo says:

          15 Mar15 March 13:57

          Why you think so The Savage Squirrel? JDB confirmed BA and Virgin don’t have such powers so the article title is still wrong/misleading. The published version of the Heathrow Byelaws has no mention of face coverings – whether it’s in an unpublished version I don’t care. My point was about the claim that Virgin, BA and Heathrow were issuing some mandates, which is not correct.

• BlueThroughCrimp says:

  14 Mar14 March 23:50

  After two years, I’m just glad it was a “Pussy Cat virus”.
  Phew.

  • Dayle says:

    15 Mar15 March 00:25

    And those of us who hold firm with the bs are now sitting pretty happy 👌

    • BlueThroughCrimp says:

      15 Mar15 March 00:28

      Good for you.
      The dead aren’t.

    • Rui N. says:

      15 Mar15 March 07:20

      Imagine being happy about the death of millions upon millions of people.

      • WaynedP says:

        15 Mar15 March 07:59

        18 million worldwide is latest estimate.

        That’s equivalent to nearly six times the population of Wales.

        • Rui N. says:

          15 Mar15 March 08:41

          So much joy!

        • J says:

          15 Mar15 March 09:14

          How many cumulative years of life were lost? Under 10 million?

• Jon says:

  15 Mar15 March 04:11

  If my arrival at T2 last week was anything to go by, mask wearing at Heathrow already ended some time ago 😉 Signs everywhere saying they’re required but almost nobody actually wearing them, least of all the staff… A bit ironic I suppose really, as the arrivals hall was probably the most crowded / potentially high-risk part of my entire journey. Hey ho.

  • merlin90 says:

    15 Mar15 March 04:56

    When I flew into T3 a few weeks ago, my first time in the UK since October, they were my thoughts too.

    • bigdave says:

      15 Mar15 March 07:50

      Flew into and from T3 last week: people were removing their masks once passed the passport scanners and heading to baggage collection, on leaving i’d say 90% were wearing them once reaching security and waiting in the departure lounge

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