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It's 2022; think face masks are no longer required on airlines? While U.S. airlines and airports made face masks optional in April 2022, as have most EU countries, there are still certain international airline flights that require face masks, including certain flights to and from Europe; I was on one just a few days ago (fortunately everyone, at least in the business class cabin, wore their masks correctly, without complaint, and there were no incidents).
Here are the airline flights that require face masks on them, at time of writing:
- China, including Hong Kong: All flights to and from China/Hong Kong require passengers to wear face masks
- Japan: to no one's surprise, given how long Japan was closed (Japan reopened to independent travelers only in October 2022), Japan requires passengers on all flights to and from Japan to wear face masks. Note that face masks are also required in many indoor settings in Japan, and you'll see many Japanese wear face masks even outdoors, particularly in more crowded settings. So pack plenty of face masks with you if visiting Japan.
- South Korea: South Korea also continues to require passengers on all flights to and from the country to wear face masks.
- Spain: Spain requires all passengers on flights to Spain to wear face masks. On flights departing Spain, only passengers flying a Spanish airline, namely Iberia, are required to wear face masks. Iberia has called for the rule to be relaxed, but as things stand now, Spain's government plans to review the rule requiring face masks on public transport (including flights) in March 2023.
Are there other flights you've been on recently apart from those above that required you to wear a face mask? Let us know in the comments.
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