South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air said on Friday that it will require all passengers on domestic routes to wear face masks during travel starting next Monday in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Yonhap News reported.
Similarly, United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways, have also advised that face masks for all passengers from early May.
Earlier this month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed its support to have passengers wear face masks onboard aircrafts as a means to avoid the spread of COVID-19 during travel.
The masks are “a critical part of a layered approach to biosecurity to be implemented temporarily when people return to traveling by air,” IATA said.
Korean Air plans to resume flights on 19 international routes next month, including the flights to Washington, D.C., Frankfurt, Singapore and Beijing, to prepare for possible increase in passenger travel demand as countries gradually ease entry restrictions on incoming travelers.
South Korea has recently been hit with a new COVID-19 cluster. It remains to be seen whether their domestic / international travel can be allowed next week.