LONDON – Edinburgh Airport will temporarily close its operations today to accommodate the transportation flight of Queen Elizabeth II back to London.
It is understood that the late monarch will lie to rest in St Giles Cathedral until around 3/4 pm. From there, she will be transported over to the airport in preparation for her flight to RAF Northolt later on today.
An airport spokesperson said: “The airspace around Edinburgh Airport will close temporarily on Tuesday afternoon however the airport remains open and operational.
“We would remind passengers they should check with their airline for any updates to flights.”
Loganair has also commented on the disruption to travel that this will cause:
“If you’re traveling with us to or from Edinburgh on Tuesday, September 13, some Loganair flights have been re-timed or combined due to closure of the airport during the late afternoon to enable HM The Queen’s final journey from Scotland to take place.”
“If your flight is impacted, we will email you today using the contact details held in your booking.”
“If your flight is operating as normal, please do be aware that there will be several road closures and likely more traffic than normal, so please allow extra time.”
It is understood that the coffin will arrive in London by 7 pm UK time, and will then continue onwards to the center of the city where preparations will be made for the state funeral.
What Aircraft Will Be Transporting QEII Back to London?
At this point, it is unknown which aircraft will be transporting QEII back to London. Looking at data from RadarBox.com, we have come up with a few pointers regarding this.
Yesterday, three aircraft, either related to the Royal Air Force or the Royal VIP charters, arrived in Edinburgh.
We have KRF25, which arrived in Edinburgh at 1356 local time yesterday, followed by KRH21R at 1232 local time, and RRR6892 at 0908 local time.
KRH21R and KRF25 both departed the Scottish airport that same day, leaving RRR6892 still in Edinburgh.
This would make sense given the fact that this flight is operated by the Royal Air Force’s C17 Globemaster aircraft, and can definitely transport the coffin back to London.
ZZ177, the aircraft in question, hasn’t left Edinburgh yet, hinting strongly that the aircraft will probably be the airframe of choice for the flight.
That being said, the runway at RAF Northolt is quite short, so it could either perform a very light landing to achieve this, or a different aircraft will be used.
We also know that ZZ176 is also at Edinburgh Airport, so that does leave the choice of the two airframes in that regard.
Either way, be sure to stay tuned for more updates as we get them, with AviationSource aiming to provide live updates as the flight flies down to London.
