South American carrier Latam Airlines Group has announced masks will be mandatory on all flights for both passengers and crew from May 11.
The group made the decision to enforce the use of protective face coverings on all its flights following recommendations by the World Health Organisation and the International Air Transport Association.
The compulsory use of masks has been in place on its flights in Chile since mid April. This is now being extended to all of the group’s domestic and international flights.
Protective face masks will be the responsibility of individual passengers to purchase, the company said.
The group has also introduced other measures to increase the safety of its airline operations. These include social distancing and cleaning of passenger service areas at check-in, extra hygiene protocols and cleaning on board, cleaning of aircraft after use and social distancing measures for luggage collection.