Passenger on Wizz Air flight to Cyprus fined for not wearing mask properly
A Wizz Air passenger was fined €300 (£267.65) for failing to wear his face mask properly on board a flight from Athens to Larnaca in Cyprus.
The man, who was sitting at the back of the aircraft on the Sunday night flight, was said to have refused to comply with the mandatory mask policy despite repeated requests from the cabin crew.
The pilot was informed of the incident and upon landing in Cyprus, the plane was boarded by local police, the Cyprus Mail reported.
The paper said that passengers on board were not allowed to disembark until the police checked the man's travel documents and issued him a fine for non-compliance with the country's mandatory mask policy.
He was also required to go through Covid-19 testing.
Since 31 July, it has been mandatory for the general public to wear face masks in crowded indoor spaces in Cyprus, which includes public transport.
The restrictions apply to anyone over the age of 12 (it has been revised up from six), with an automatic €300 fine handed out in cases of non-compliance.
The Independent has approached Wizz Air for comment.
This incident comes as 16 cases of coronavirus were linked to a Tui flight from Zante in Greece to Cardiff, where a passenger claimed other travellers were not wearing face masks properly on board.
One passenger, Stephanie Whitfield, told Today: “Many passengers didn’t seem to know how to wear the masks correctly or they seemed to disregard the rules.
“Lots of people were wearing the masks underneath their noses or underneath their chins. They were taking their masks off to talk to friends, and going up and down the aisle to talk to their friends without their masks on.
“The crew came round once to ask one lady to put her mask on.”
Tui has launched a full investigation following the incident.
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