Heathrow airport will ground all flights for half an hour to keep London’s skies quiet during part of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday, prompting airlines to cancel more than 100 flights.
The UK’s busiest airport will stop all flights for 15 minutes on either side of a two-minute silence planned for the end of the funeral between 11.40am and 12.10pm.
Landings and arrivals throughout other parts of the day, including ceremonial processions in London and Windsor, will also be suspended or rescheduled.
Taken together, the changes will affect 15 per cent of Heathrow’s scheduled flights on Monday.
British Airways, the biggest airline at Heathrow, said it would cancel about 100 short-haul flights in response.
“We have reduced our schedule and re-timed some flights at Heathrow to ensure the skies are quiet at certain moments on Monday,” the airline said.
Other airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, are also expected to announce cancellations in response to the loss of airport capacity.