Heathrow Airport says passengers should expect disruption on Wednesday because flight paths are being altered to ensure there’s complete silence over Central London for the procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where Her Majesty will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.
The procession is set to depart from Buckingham Palace at 2:22 pm precisely and will arrive travel along The Mall, Horse Guards Road, across Horse Guards Parade and onto Whitehall to Parliament Square, before arriving at the Palace of Westminster at 3:00 pm exactly.
Some of Heathrow’s flight paths often go right over Central London but “out of respect for the period of mourning” the airport said it would reroute aircraft away from Westminster “to ensure silence during the ceremonial procession”.
As a result, the airport says flights could be delayed or even cancelled. British Airways has been worst affected with a slew of flights cancelled including services to Warsaw, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Basel, Hamburg, Rome and Faro.
Passengers have also been asked to observe the National Moment of Reflection with a one-minute silence at 8:00 pm on Sunday, 18th September. Flights set to depart during this time are likely to be delayed, and arriving aircraft will be asked to wait in a holding pattern away from Central London.
In a statement, the airport said it “anticipates” further changes to its operations on Monday, 19th September when Her Majesty’s state funeral will take place. A spokesperson said further details would be released in the coming days.
“We apologise for the disruption caused, as we work to limit the impact on the upcoming events,” the airport said in a statement.
For passengers travelling on Monday from Heathrow, the Queen’s funeral will be shown live on screens across the airport.
