Britons queue for hours to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state
London’s Heathrow Airport and airlines operating out of it are changing their flight schedules to prevent “noise disruption” during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday.
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Britain’s longest-reigning monarch died Sept. 8 at age 96, surrounded by family members at her Balmoral estate in Scotland. The queen’s coffin has since been transported to London’s Westminster Hall, where many members of the British public have gone to pay their respects as the monarch lies in state ahead of her funeral.
Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey is scheduled to start Monday at 11 a.m. local time, with a two-minute moment of silence taking place at the end, according to Buckingham Palace. (Ben Stansall – WPA Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Out of respect for Her Majesty The Queen, Heathrow, NATS and airlines, will make appropriate changes to their operations to avoid noise disruption for the State Funeral at Westminster Abbey and the Committal Service at Windsor Castle on Monday,” Heathrow said in a Thursday tweet.
Roughly 15% of the airport’s Monday flight schedule will be changed, Reuters reported. According to a statement from the airport, Heathrow and airlines are “working closely” with air traffic controller NATS to minimize the impact of the operational changes, which includes some flights being canceled or rescheduled.
Virgin Atlantic said in a statement it was canceling two flights Sunday and two Monday, all four of which were flying between London and California. Another Monday flight, bound for Las Vegas, was moved to an earlier departure time, according to the airline.
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Meanwhile, British Airways will have about 50 short-haul roundtrip cancelations for the queen’s funeral Monday. Some of the carrier’s long-haul flights at Heathrow had their times changed Monday so that they could still operate.
Some of British Airways’ long-haul flights at Heathrow had their times changed Monday so that they could still operate. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File / AP Newsroom)
“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,” British Airways told FOX Business. “Our thoughts remain with the royal family and the nation.”
The queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time, with a two-minute moment of silence taking place at the end, according to Buckingham Palace. The palace said that the committal service at Windsor would take place at 4 p.m. local time. There will also be a couple of processions during the day.
