Germany: Criticism of government flight without mask requirement

80 passengers on a plane - and all without a mask? Scholz and Habeck are criticized for their Canada flight without mouth and nose protection. The federal government is now announcing that all travelers have been tested beforehand.

During the trip to Canada by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens), footage from on board the government aircraft caused criticism. Habeck and numerous journalists can be seen without masks.

According to the federal government, however, this does not violate the rules for flying with the Bundeswehr Air Force: “There is no mask requirement on Air Force flights. All participants of the trip must present a current negative PCR test before departure. This ensures a high level of protection,” explained a government spokesman when asked by the dpa.

PCR test for all passengers
On Sunday, more than 80 passengers, including 25 media representatives, were on board the Air Force Airbus A340 on the flight from Berlin to Montreal, Canada. Photos and an ARD video show Economics Minister Habeck and journalists close together without mouth and nose protection. The prerequisite for traveling with them was a negative PCR test, which was no more than 24 hours old at the time of departure.

Ex-CDU leader Armin Laschet wrote on Twitter on Monday that journalists and members of the government were "ignoring (nonsensical, but applicable) laws". In October 2020, when he was Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia at the time, he was criticized for a photo that showed him on a plane without a mask. A spokesman said at the time that Laschet only took off the mask for a brief moment to eat and drink in accordance with AHA rules and the airline's specifications.

Lufthansa also spoke up in a Twitter thread: "A negative PCR test does not exempt you from wearing a mask." The former Berlin AfD parliamentary group leader Georg Pazderski criticized on Twitter: "Why do all passengers who fly to or from Germany wear a mask, but not Marie-Antoinette Habeck?”

The accompanying deputy editor-in-chief of the portal The Pioneer, Gordon Repinski, wrote on Twitter that he considered the risk of infection on a flight before which all occupants had been PCR tested to be minimal. "Does it still look stupid when such pictures become public? Totally It's one more example of how a patchwork quilt of rules only destroys trust.”

For airplanes - as well as for long-distance trains - after the end of many other corona rules, a nationwide mask requirement for passengers and staff continues to apply. They may only use air transport and long-distance public transport if they wear an FFP2 mask or a medical mask during transport, as specified in paragraph 28b of the Infection Protection Act. Children under the age of six are exempt from this obligation. The mask can only be removed while eating and drinking.

Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung