On September 19, there will be fewer take-offs and landings than planned on the two runways at London’s Heathrow Airport. Air traffic, which was already reduced due to personnel problems, will be reduced by around 15 percent due to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Towards the end of the funeral ceremony, two minutes of silence are planned on Monday; then there should be absolute calm in the airspace over London, as well as in the 15 minutes before and after. According to the airport, no landing approaches are allowed between 1:45 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. local time during the ride of the hearse. There is also a ban on take-off between 3:03 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. during the procession along the Long Walk to Windsor Castle. The castle is only a few kilometers west of the airport.
The number of starts will then continue to be restricted until 9 p.m. Flights will also be diverted in airspace around Windsor Castle “to minimize noise during the private family church service and funeral,” the BBC reports.
The airport apologizes for the “inconvenience” but sees the flight schedule reduction as a “sign to avoid noise nuisance in some locations at certain times on Monday”.
Approximately 100 British Airways and four Virgin Atlantic routes will be affected by the schedule changes, none of which will be long-haul routes. These are mostly short-haul flights to cities that are served several times a day. British Airways will therefore use larger aircraft on these routes and rebook passengers.
Customers are free to request a refund if alternative flights are not accepted.
However, the British aviation authority, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), has reported that affected passengers cannot claim compensation in this case because the rebooking and flight cancellations are an “extraordinary circumstance”.
Those: “bbc.com”
