Flights canceled to turn skies silent for Queen’s funeral

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN

Flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport on the day of the Queen’s funeral are being canceled or re-timed “as a mark of respect” to the late monarch.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the UK’s busiest airport confirmed that it would be making “appropriate changes” to operations “in order to avoid noise disruption” during Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey and the Committal Service at Windsor Castle on Monday.

UK’s national carrier British Airways has already canceled 50 flights short-haul on Monday, while Virgin Atlantic has canceled four US flights to and from Heathrow Airport.

The operational changes, likely to impact thousands of passengers, have been put in place to ensure “quiet skies” during specific times during the day, and will affect about 15% of Heathrow’s schedule.

There will be no aircraft movement at the airport for 30 minutes from 11:40 a.m. and 12:10 p.m (GMT) to ensure that there is no disruption during a two-minute silence at the end of the funeral is not disrupted.

‘Quiet skies’

Arrivals to Heathrow will also be halted from 1:45 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. “to ensure silence during the ceremonial procession” (GMT,) and there are to be no departures for one hour and 40 minutes from 3:05 p.m. (GMT) as the ceremonial procession approaches Windsor Castle for the interment.

Meanwhile, departures are to be “reduced” from 4:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the committal service at St George’s Chapel.

“In order to observe these moments on Monday, airlines will need to adjust their schedules accordingly, which will mean some changes to flights,” reads a statement from Heathrow.

“Passengers affected by these changes will be contacted directly by their airlines about their travel plans and the options available to them.”

Flights will also be diverted around Windsor Castle, located around 12 miles (20 kilometers from Heathrow) on the day “to minimize noise during the private family service and interment.”

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic has stressed that while “the vast majority” of flights are scheduled to operate as normal, there will be some adjustments to “accommodate restrictions” during the state funeral and committal ceremony.

A number of shops at Heathrow Airport will also be shutting their doors on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday in the UK.

“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 on Monday September 19th,” reads a statement from British Airways.

“Our thoughts remain with the Royal Family and the nation.”

CNN has contacted Heathrow Airport for further comment.

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