From Monday May 4 all member airlines of the Lufthansa Group will insist passengers wear a face mask.
Besides Lufthansa mainline other members are Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
Lufthansa says, “It’s recommended that passengers wear them [face masks] throughout the flight and at the airport both before and after the flight whenever the required minimum distance cannot be guaranteed without restriction.”
“All passengers are requested to bring their own mouth and nose cover. A reusable fabric mask is recommended but all other types of covering such as simple disposable masks or scarves are also possible.”
“The airline will inform passengers in advance by SMS or email on their respective websites.”
Lufthansa Group says “the obligation to wear the mask will apply until August 31, 2020 at the earliest.”
The Group also adds that “the current LH Group regulation to keep the neighbouring seat free in economy and premium economy will no longer apply”.
“Due to the current low occupancy rate seats will nevertheless be allocated as widely as possible throughout the flight.”
Although at present these carriers either operate very few or no flights at all more services are expected to start in the weeks and months ahead.
***** UPDATE: Lufthansa’s London PR has just emailed me the following:
“Since the wearing of a mask or scarf as a mouth-to-nose cover is now compulsory in many European countries, we assume that the overwhelming majority of passengers have and will bring their own mask.
“Just as, for example, customers in German retail outlets do when they go shopping. But we will have individual masks on board for emergencies.”*****
