In 2021, mask mandates onboard international flights are a given. However, with deadlier strains of the virus emerging, some airlines are taking no chances. Several airlines, mostly European ones, have started requiring passengers to wear medical-grade masks and will not allow passengers wearing cloth masks.
These airlines include Air France, Finnair, Lufthansa, Swissair, Croatia Airlines, and LATAM airlines, according to a report by FAST COMPANY. As per the report, these airlines only allow medical grade masks like N95, KN95, surgical masks or respirators without exhaust valves.
According to a report by BCD travel, other airlines with stricter mask requirements (such as requiring that passengers wear masks meeting FFP2, KN95 and N95 standards) include Euro Wings, Air Corsica and Austrian airilnes.
If you are travelilng on an international flight, it is worth checking the airlines' website for their mask policy.
Various studies have found that N95 masks offer more protection than cotton masks. One study found that cotton bandanas that were folded and used as makeshift masks were only 49 per cent effective while an N95 mask was 98 per cent protective. The type of fabric also matters, with nylon or blackout drapery and sterilisation wrap being preferable.
In some countries, such masks are required in public spaces too. In France, citizens must wear masks that meet category 1 requirements which include filtration efficacy greater than 90 per cent for particles equal to or greater than thre microns. Germany too has similar requirements.