British Airways cancels 16 flights to ensure silence for Queen’s procession, Heathrow warns of disruption on funeral
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The late Queen’s coffin was moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday, and to “ensure silence over central London” as the procession moved, the UK’s busiest airport Heathrow was disrupted for nearly two hours. British Airways canceled 16 flights in the time the procession was on its way.
Heathrow airport said there will be “further changes to the Heathrow operation on Monday 19 September”, the day of the funeral. The Scottish airline Loganair mentioned that it will not operate flights during the Queen's funeral.
READ MORE
The Queen’s coffin began its journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, which was about one mile through central London on Wednesday, September 14, at 2.22 pm with King Charles III, Prince William, and Prince Harry walking behind the coffin.
Heathrow airport made several changes in flight schedules because its usual path for aircraft landing crosses the capital just south of the center, which means it could've produced a significant amount of noise in the area of the events.
A Heathrow spokesperson said, “Out of respect for the period of mourning following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Heathrow will be making appropriate alterations to our operation. Some flights between 1.50 pm and 3.40 pm local time on Wednesday 14 September will be disrupted to ensure silence over central London as the ceremonial procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall."
"We anticipate further changes to the Heathrow operation on Monday 19 September, when Her Majesty’s funeral is due to take place, and will communicate those in more detail over coming days," he continued. "We apologize for the disruption these changes cause, as we work to limit the impact on the upcoming events," the spokesperson added.
Thanks to the easterlies, the disruption was limited, and not many flights and passengers will be affected because aircraft are landing from the west rather than east due to the wind directions. Whereas departing planes that took off to the east, towards central London, were routed away from Westminster.
Flights to Amsterdam, Basel, Dusseldorf, Faro, Hamburg, Rome, Stockholm, and Warsaw, by British Airways, due to depart between 1.55 pm and 3.40 pm were described by BA as “canceled due to airport restrictions”. In total, 16 flights were canceled which affected more than 2,000 passengers.
