Ryanair passengers could be required to wear face masks on the airline's flights until spring 2022, the company's CEO Michael O'Leary has revealed.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Mr O'Leary said that the airline expects to continue with a mandatory face mask policy on board its flights through to next year, to put passengers' "health and safety first".
He added that both passengers and crew will be asked to wear face masks on board its flights in a bid to "minimise risk of spread of Covid and other colds."
However in terms of a general policy on face masks he admitted that the company "haven't thought that far forward".
The Ryanair boss also spoke about the safety around full flights during the pandemic, saying that "full flights are safe, particularly when flight times are one hour".
He added that there has been "very little evidence of transmission on short-haul flights" when passengers and crew are wearing masks.
The airline has today announced a big expansion to its summer schedule, with 26 new routes available to/from the UK with more flights to the likes of Rhodes, Crete, Ibiza, Milan and Alicante.
To mark the occasion the airline has launched a sale which includes fares from £19.99 each way this summer on ryanair.com, although you'll need to book by midnight on March 28.
Currently national lockdowns in the UK include a ban on travelling abroad for holidays, with new laws coming into force Monday which could see rule-breakers face £5,000 fines.
Boris Johnson said that as part of England's lockdown roadmap foreign travel could resume from May 17 at the earliest, subject to a review by the government's Global Travel Taskforce which is expected to share an update in April.
What do you think of the face mask policy on flights? Let us know in the comments below.
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