Planning on flying into or out of London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) on Monday, the day of the queen’s funeral? Brace yourself for a slew of cancellations and potential disruptions.
The Points Guy can reveal that several leading airlines have suspended the sale of tickets to and from Heathrow to preempt the airport from having to reschedule flights that are timed to take place during the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
This follows Heathrow Airport clearing the skies over central London on Wednesday during the ceremonial procession which saw Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin transported from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the queen will lie in state until she is laid to rest.
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Heathrow officials hinted earlier this week that Wednesday’s one-hour-and-50-minute “no-fly zone” was in the works, saying: “We are working through and support plans with Government and Royal Household and will be releasing more information once it is confirmed.”
Officially, the biggest obstacle for passengers at Heathrow on Monday is the closure of local roads due to the funeral, which looks so severe that airport bosses have advised air travelers to use the Piccadilly line, Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express to reach the terminals or central London instead.
Through TPG’s own inquiries into potential flight disruption, however, we found that several major airlines including SAS, Finnair and Emirates have suspended ticket sales on flights to and from the United Kingdom’s biggest airport on the day of the state funeral.
When TPG reached out to Finnair, it confirmed that it had suspended all ticket sales for London-bound services, as shown above.
“Heathrow Airport has informed us about possible restrictions to air traffic in London on September 19 due to the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen,” said a spokesperson.
“Finnair is awaiting further details and we don’t yet know the effects of the restrictions on our flights,” a spokesperson for the airline told TPG. “As a preparation for possible changes in our flights and to limit possible effects for our customers, we felt prudent to close sales for our London flights for September 19 until we have definitive information.”
Finnair also added that it would communicate any changes to its current flight schedule directly to the customers affected.
TPG has not yet received confirmation from all other airlines we have reached out to. However, one aviation source we spoke with warned that travel disruption of some kind is likely and expected throughout the whole of Monday, though the final details were still being ironed out between Heathrow Airport, the Department for Transport and officials representing the royal family.
Related: When and where is Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, and how can you pay your respects?
A statement is expected to be released in due course outlining how the state funeral could affect air travel on the day.
TPG reached out to the Department for Transport, Buckingham Palace and a number of airlines for comment but had not heard back at the time of publishing. We’ll provide updates as we receive them.
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