London’s Heathrow Airport, the UK’s busiest, said it would make appropriate changes to flights to avoid noise interference during Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle on Monday.
British flag carrier British Airways has canceled “50 short-haul flights for Monday” and Virgin Atlantic Airways has canceled “four flights from the US to Heathrow and back.”
These operational changes, which could affect thousands of passengers, were introduced to ensure a “quiet atmosphere” at certain times on Monday, which will affect about 15 percent of Heathrow’s flight schedule that day.
The aircraft will stop at the airport for 30 minutes, from 11:40 am to 12:10 pm (GMT), to ensure there is no noise for two minutes of silence at the end of the funeral ceremony.
Arrivals at Heathrow Airport will also be suspended from 13:45 to 14:20 (GMT) “to ensure silence during the ceremonial walk” and there will be no departure for the hour and 40 minutes from 15:05 as the Windsor Funeral Procession approaches castle where he was buried.
Meanwhile, flights departing between 4:45 pm and 9:00 pm will be “reduced” during a memorial service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Source: El Nashra