Heathrow Airport will no longer make face coverings mandatory from Wednesday.

The move has been welcomed by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which said they will be revising their onboard face covering policies as well.

The airport says it ‘strongly encourages’ those at the airport to continue wearing a face covering – particularly when coming into close contact with others – although this will no longer be a firm requirement.

The change mirrors steps taken by other transport organisations in the UK, and applies across all of Heathrow’s terminals, bus and railway stations and office spaces.

Heathrow’s home carriers British Airways and Virgin Atlantic welcomed the move and said they are preparing to follow suit by dropping the face covering requirement onboard their aircraft as soon as regulatory requirements for their destinations allow.

Heathrow Chief Operating Officer Emma Gilthorpe said: “We have worked hard to keep our passengers and colleagues safe during the pandemic.

“We acted quickly to institute face coverings as one of our first lines of defence, and we’re pleased that we’re now able to move away from a mandatory requirement as society learns to live with COVID longer term.

“While we still recommend wearing them, we can be confident the investments we’ve made in COVID-secure measures – some of which aren’t always visible – combined with the fantastic protection provided by the vaccine will continue to keep people safe while travelling. We’re gearing up for a busy summer travel season, and this change means we can look forward to welcoming our passengers back with a smile as we get them safely away on their journeys.”

Virgin Atlantic Chief Customer and Operating Officer Corneel Koster said: “As we learn to live with COVID and with the legal requirement to wear a face mask now removed in England, we believe our customers should have the personal choice whether to wear a mask onboard, on routes where international regulations around mask-wearing do not apply.

“This policy will be introduced gradually, beginning with our Caribbean services from Heathrow and Manchester airports and we encourage everyone to be respectful of fellow passengers’ mask preferences.

“Across our network, we continue to adhere to all regulatory requirements both in the UK and in destination countries, recognising that mask requirements differ by market.

“Masks will still be required on many of our routes, including flights operating to or from the United States until 18 April at the earliest.”

British Airways Chief Operating Officer Jason Mahoney said: “We welcome this as a really positive step forward. As an international airline we fly to a large number of countries around the world, all of which have their own local restrictions and legal requirements.

“We’re working through these and from Wednesday 16 March, customers will only be required to wear a face covering on board our flights if the destination they’re travelling to requires it.

“For destinations where the wearing of a face covering is not mandated, our customers are able to make a personal choice, and we kindly request everyone respects each other’s preferences.”