British Airways to Halt 100 Flights during Royal Funeral

[In The News]

DALLAS – As London Heathrow Airport (LHR), its airlines, and air traffic controllers seek to minimize noise during Queen Elizabeth II’s royal burial, British Airways (BA) will cancel 100 flights from the London hub on Monday and reschedule others.

The UK hub reports that planes will be grounded for varying lengths of time throughout the day, changing about 15% of its timetable.

A two-minute period of silence will be observed at the conclusion of the funeral, during which there won’t be any aircraft movements, between 11:40 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., and there won’t be any arrivals for 35 minutes beginning at 1:45 p.m. during the procession of the Queen’s hearse.

As the cortege approaches Windsor Castle for the former monarch’s burial, departures will be prohibited for an hour and forty minutes starting at 3:05 p.m. and limited until 9 p.m. while the service concludes.

A BA representative said that passengers with reservations on the affected flights could select different services or get a refund. The spokesperson added that no long-haul flights were among the operations being canceled.

Wednesday’s transit of the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for her lying in state altered flights at LHR for around two hours. Additionally, LHR will request a minute of quiet from travelers at 8 p.m. on Sunday and will broadcast the funeral on terminal screens on Monday, when all non-essential businesses will be closed.

The airlines said via a statement, “​As a mark of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her state funeral, we have reduced our schedule and re-timed some flights at Heathrow to ensure the skies are quiet at certain moments.”

---

Featured image: London Heathrow Airport

View the full article