British Airways to axe 50 flights during Queen's funeral

BA’s cancellations will affect around 50 short-haul flights to Europe throughout the day where it has multiple frequencies and will add larger aircraft on some routes.

BA has no planned long-haul cancellations but will retime some flights. The carrier’s Gatwick and London City flights will be unaffected.

BA said: “​As a mark of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her State Funeral, we have reduced our schedule and retimed some flights at Heathrow to ensure the skies are quiet at certain moments on Monday 19 September.”

Virgin Atlantic will cancel four flights to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco departing on Sunday and Monday. Monday’s 15.05 departure to Las Vegas will be retimed to 11.30.

The funeral is due to start at 11am and be concluded in about an hour. The timing means it will impact several inbound transatlantic flights.

The airport said airlines “will need to adjust their schedules accordingly, which will mean some changes to flights”. This could include cancellations, it indicated.

Heathrow said: “Passengers affected by these changes will be contacted directly by their airlines about their travel plans and the options available to them. Passengers who have been notified that their flight has been cancelled, and/or do not have a confirmed seat on a flight, should not turn up to the airport.”

Heathrow said it would have extra staff on duty to support passengers and would update its website with advice.

The Queen’s funeral will be shown on the airport’s screens. Non-essential retailers in its terminals will be closed, but essential retailers, such as WHSmith, Boots, Travelex, restaurants, cafes and pubs will remain open.