According to a report by the news magazine “Der Spiegel”, the Swiss airline should no longer take the mandatory mask requirement in Germany seriously. Last Sunday, on “at least two flights” from Hamburg and Berlin to Zurich, it is said that the cabin crew did not point out the German mask requirement.

From this, “Der Spiegel” constructs a veritable mini-scandal, because in contrast to Germany, Switzerland has abolished the obligation to wear mouth and nose protection on board commercial aircraft. The Federal Republic is one of the last European countries that still insists on face masks on board aircraft.

The German Notam stipulates, among other things, that the mouth and nose must be covered on board all flights to/from Germany. In stark contrast to this: The Swiss Notam declares that the obligation is lifted on all flights to/from Switzerland. The news magazine “Der Spiegel” therefore suggests that German instructions always have priority. That's not the case. It is therefore not surprising that a passenger who was bothered by the fact that the crew did not point out the mask requirement and allegedly said a flight attendant that Swiss had decided that the obligation no longer existed is quoted.

Officially, Swiss does not want to know anything about the “incidents” and points out to the mirror that the mask requirement continues to apply if it is prescribed by the country of destination. That would be the case to Germany, but not to Switzerland. "Our aircraft are registered in Switzerland, so Swiss legislation also applies on board," said a spokesman for Swiss.

In principle, the Lufthansa subsidiary is not wrong in its argumentation, because in the event of contradictory instructions from the authorities, the German instruction does not have priority, as suggested by the news magazine Spiegel, including a quote from the Federal Ministry of Health, but rather the one in whose state the aircraft is registered. There are international agreements on this. However, aviation law is largely unknown to the health authorities, as the course of the pandemic has repeatedly shown.

Example: Austria has a notam stating that FFP2 masks must be worn on all flights to/from Austria. Malta, on the other hand, has explicitly lifted the mask requirement. On flights from Austria to Malta, this means that the repeal instruction of the Maltese government has priority for 9H-registered machines. Whether it suits or not the Austrian authorities, who also take the view that their instructions always take precedence.

The fact that, for example, Ryanair, Easyjet and other providers at least point out the German mask requirement on flights to/from Germany is completely irrelevant. In practice, most airlines no longer insist on compliance. Thus it becomes more and more maskless. For example, Austria is making FFP2 masks compulsory on board commercial aircraft effective June 1, 2022. Germany is therefore increasingly left alone, although the fact that masks do not have to be worn in the terminals, but on board, is not doing itself a favor, as many travelers are confused by this and simply no longer know their way around. Many flight attendants meanwhile don't care at all.