Lufthansa has spoken out in favor of abolishing the mask requirement in air traffic.

“We rely on the personal responsibility of our guests.

Passengers should be able to decide freely whether they want to wear a mask or not," Christina Foerster, who is responsible for customers, IT and corporate responsibility on the group's board of management, told the "Bild" newspaper on Thursday.

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 a voluntary approach, this German special path is difficult to explain and enforce."

The federal cabinet launched the new corona protection rules for autumn and winter on Wednesday.

Accordingly, a mask requirement in long-distance and air traffic should continue to apply until April 2023.

Mask requirement “not proportionate”

In addition to Lufthansa, the industry association BDL also criticized the planned tightening of the mask requirement on board aircraft.

The government's draft law, according to which FFP2 masks are to become mandatory in the future, is not proportionate, said the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL).

The previous mask requirement was difficult to convey to many passengers, as it still applied in hardly any other European country.

Lufthansa added that the mask requirement provoked conflicts at the expense of their employees.

The Bundestag must initiate improvements.

The FDP parliamentary group has already signaled a willingness to negotiate.

During the parliamentary deliberations on the new Infection Protection Act, she also wants to talk about easing protective measures on airplanes with the SPD and the Greens.

"As soon as the cabinet has passed the final version of the Infection Protection Act, we will consult with our coalition partners and examine where there is a need for improvement.

The debate about the obligation to wear masks on airplanes is an example where we still see a need for testing," FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the "Spiegel" on Tuesday.

The background to the initiative is a debate about footage from the government plane with which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) flew to Canada.

It shows that politicians, fellow travelers and journalists on board the plane were not wearing masks.