Cancun, Q.R. — Mexican airlines have officially eliminated the mandatory use of face masks on planes and inside airports. On Tuesday, the Federal Civil Aviation Agency of Mexico issued a circular addressed to all airlines, airport concessionaires and aeronautical personnel through which it indicates the end of the requirement to use face masks inside airports and on board aircraft .
This measure, which bears the signature of the director of the AFAC, Carlos Antonio Rodríguez Munguía, does recommend the elimination of masks for those who have symptoms related to COVID-19 or other respiratory diseases.
The measure specifies in its recitals issues that the air transport industry has been pointing out since the start of the pandemic, which is that airport facilities are large and sufficiently ventilated spaces, while aircraft use a high-efficiency filtration system (HEPA) that eliminates 99.9 percent of macroparticles, bacteria and viruses.
Volaris Airlines also celebrated the news with a post. “The civil aviation authority in Mexico (AFAC) has just notified all airlines that the use of face masks becomes optional on flights, this applies to both personnel and passengers.”
Mexico joins the increasingly long list of countries that have returned to normality in terms of health protocols related to COVID-19 and air transport.
Mexico was one of the few countries in the world that kept its borders open during the pandemic, which allowed it to recover and resume passenger traffic figures much faster.