Cathay Pacific removes requirement for passengers and crew to wear masks on board
Great news for those departing aboard Cathay Pacific aircraft. Hong Kong's flag carrier [...]
Cathay Pacific
Oneworld
Hong Kong
Great news for those departing aboard Cathay Pacific aircraft. The Hong Kong flag carrier has removed the requirement for all occupants to wear face masks on board planes.
Hong Kong has lifted restrictions
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China and the territories of Hong Kong and Macau were the last to reopen to nonessential travel and remove restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Slowly the various measures were further loosened and today life is back to life as it was in the world before.
On March 1, Hong Kong eliminated the requirement to wear face masks; rules in the former British protectorate were among the strictest in the world, with the requirement to wear a mask at all times indoors as well as outdoors, in means of transportation of any kind with the sole exception of those who were engaging in physical activity.
Goodbye restrictions aboard Cathay
While airlines such as British Airways or Emirates did not require passengers to wear face masks on flights to HKG, Cathay Pacific continued to maintain the requirement for passengers and crews.
As of March 1, 2023, Cathay Pacific passengers, crew and ground staff are no longer required to wear face masks on board the carrier's flights, in the airline's lounges and airport terminals.
"In light of the Hong Kong government's latest announcement on February 28, 2023 to remove the mask-wearing mandate as of March 1, 2023, our passengers and employees will no longer be required to wear any face cover when flying with us or visiting our lounges. If anyone would like to continue wearing a face cover, this is optional and we will respect their decision."
National regulations on in-flight mask use are still haphazard. China and South Korea, for example, impose this requirement, while Japan "recommends" it, leading some airlines to require face cover on flights, such as Finnair and British Airways, while others do not, such as Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa.
Same situation on a recent flight of mine to Brazil with a request by Air France to wear the mask on the return flight, to France, and not on the outbound flight to São Paulo.
