Aviation is not letting up in its fight against mandatory masks on board. According to the industry association, Lufthansa is now criticizing the corresponding decision by the federal government.
Lufthansa continues to campaign for the abolition of the mask requirement in air traffic and rejects the tightening decided by the federal government. “We rely on the personal responsibility of our guests. Passengers should be able to freely decide whether they want to wear a mask or not,” said Christina Foerster, Board Member for Customer, IT
In aircraft, the air is cleaned by high-performance filters. “In this respect, it is difficult to understand why stricter rules should apply here than in other areas of life, such as in the restaurant or in the supermarket,” continued Foerster.
In addition, the planned regulations are not controllable and are the exception in an international comparison. “Because most other countries are already opting for voluntary action, this German special path is difficult to explain and enforce,” she said.
The day before, the federal cabinet had launched the new corona protection rules for autumn and winter. Accordingly, a mask requirement in air traffic should continue to apply. The Bundestag now has the last word. The FDP has already announced that it wants to negotiate relaxation of the protection rules for aircraft. Group leader Christian Dürr made this clear in several interviews, referring among other things to European uniformity. The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry had also criticized the mask requirement as not proportionate and difficult to convey.
Lufthansa had already declared in May that, for safety reasons, it would no longer use all means to enforce the mask requirement, which had been abolished in many other countries. In general, the German aviation industry called for a waiver of the mask requirement on board as early as spring. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing had also campaigned for this at the time.
At the height of the corona pandemic, Lufthansa had to be saved from crash-landing with billions in taxes. In the meantime, the DAX group has repaid the aid.