Wizz Air will insist on staff having Covid vaccine from December

Steve Parsons/PA

An airline has said it will require its flight crews to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by December.

Wizz Air is implementing the policy for all pilots and cabin crew as part of its commitment to “protecting the health and safety of its passengers and crews”.

The Hungary-based carrier, which serves 11 UK airports, added that the measure will support “smooth and continued operations of its flights in the long term”.

Wizz Air Group chief executive Jozsef Varadi said: “At Wizz Air, our number one priority is the health and safety of our passengers and employees.

“We have a responsibility to protect crew and passengers on board by mitigating the risks of Covid-19, and vaccines play a vital role in this.”

There will be some cases in which staff will be able to prove they are not infected by taking antigen or PCR tests rather than being vaccinated, but the airline did not specify what those circumstances would be.

It follows United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines mandating vaccines for employees in the US.

Other US companies have already suggested their staff will have to be vaccinated before returning to offices or work places.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai sent an email to staff in August announcing vaccine requirements for employees who are coming back to the office.

Although it is not clear how the company plan to enforce the policy.

Netflix, Morgan Stanley and Disney have announced similar rules from some staff.

Facebook also wants US staff to be fully vaccinated before returning to offices.

"As our offices reopen, we will be requiring anyone coming to work at any of our US campuses to be vaccinated," Lori Goler, Facebook's VP of people said.

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