By Bev Fearis, published 1/05/20

Several major airlines are imposing stricter rules regarding the wearing of face masks on board flights.

From Monday (May 4) Lufthansa and its sister airlines – Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines – will insist on passengers covering their nose and mouth on board flights.

Passengers are also encouraged to wear face coverings throughout the entire journey, including their passage through the airport.

Lufthansa is expecting passengers to bring their own face coverings, although it said masks will be available on board for emergencies.

All Lufthansa Group flight attendants in direct contact with customers will also wear masks.

The new rules will apply until at least August 31 2020 and mean Lufthansa has relaxed regulations relating to keeping neighbouring seats free in Economy and Premium Economy Class.

“Due to the current low occupancy rate, seats will nevertheless be allocated as widely as possible throughout the cabin,” it said.

Low-cost airline Wizz Air, which re-launches flights from Luton today (Friday), is also making it compulsory for passengers to wear face masks. It has created a new in-flight safety video explaining the new measures.

Meanwhile, several US airlines which had previously introduced masks for their crew are now making masks mandatory for passengers too.

From Monday passengers will have to wear masks on United Airlines and Delta Airlines flights while the rules come into force from May 11 on American Airlines. Jet Blue and Frontier Airlines have already made masks compulsory for passengers.