Airlines Are Turning People Away If They Have The Wrong Mask — Here Are The Ones You Need

If you were planning on wearing your stylish cloth mask on your next flight, we bear some bad news.

Among the hefty requirements for travelling during the pandemic, you now have to make sure you've got the correct face mask before your flight. And no, that overpriced fabric mask you purchased from that cool store did not make the cut.

Several airlines such as Air France, Finnair, Vueling, Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines and Croatia Airlines have specific rules for the type of mask you can wear on their flights.

Almost all the airlines explicitly state that cloth masks, face shields, bandanas, scarves, visors and handkerchiefs are not acceptable forms of face coverings on their flights. Valves are also a dealbreaker in any mask.

In addition to surgical masks, keep a lookout for a valveless type of mask called FFP2, as those two types are accepted by all the airlines mentioned above.

Some airlines have slightly different lists of acceptable masks, in addition to surgical and FFP2 masks.

You might find some airlines that accept FFP1, FFP3, KN95- or N95- types of mask, although you should check their website to make sure you've got the right one. All of the masks have to be valveless and not made of fabric.

There are some exceptions to this rule. For instance, Vueling allows only surgical masks and FFP2 type masks without valves to be worn on their flights. However, travellers with a medical exemption can get around the rule by providing medical proof of their exemption and a negative PCR test taken 48 hours before their flight.

Essentially, a good rule of thumb is to keep either a surgical mask or a valveless FFP2 type mask on hand when travelling.