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Travellers going through Heathrow airport will no longer be required to use a face mask.

Several airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are following suit. BA said that from today, passengers would only be required to wear a mask on the airline’s flight if their destination requires it.

Virgin Atlantic is also changing its mask mandates and no longer requires them on domestic flights.

For Heathrow, it means masks will no longer be needed in its terminals, rails stations of office buildings.

“We’re pleased that we are now able to move away from a mandatory requirement as society learns to live with COVID longer term,” Heathrow’s chief operating officer, Emma Gilthorpe, said.

“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.”

The airport said face coverings would remain available for people who still want to wear them.

“We know some passengers may feel vulnerable, and we are encouraging colleagues to be respectful and put on a face covering when near a passenger who requests it,” it said in a statement.

The move comes as the UK prepares to drop all pandemic-related travel restrictions. From Friday, testing and the passenger locator form for inbound travellers will be scrapped, including requirements for unvaccinated passengers.

It will be the first time since spring 2020 that travellers have been able to enter the country without restrictions.

BA 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 March 16, 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.”

Heathrow said that if there was a significant rise in infections or a future variant of concern, it would not hesitate to bring the mandate back.

Earlier this month, Jet2 became the first airline to drop its mask-wearing mandate, soon followed Tui with their own announcement. Ryanair revealed plans to ease out face masks by spring.