As the UK Gets Ready for the Funeral of the Queen, Mourning Royals Fly Private.

Private jet usage has increased significantly during the 11-day period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II as members of the British royal family fly around the nation for a hectic schedule of formal activities. The government is recommending foreign heads of state flying to London for a funeral on September 19 to do so on commercial flights since business and government planes won’t be allowed to use Heathrow Airport and would instead need to land at other airports in the vicinity of the UK capital.

King Charles III traveled to Scotland twice on an Embraer Legacy 600 flown by charter company Luxaviation after the Queen passed away there on September 8. Others in his family have been flying on a pair of Dassault Falcon 900LX planes that the Royal Air Force bought earlier this year to replace its BAe 146 Royal Flight planes. These planes (tail numbers G-ZAHS and GZABH), which are also used to transport high government officials including newly-installed Prime Minister Liz Truss, are run by Centreline Aviation in accordance with a contract.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), according to a September 11 report in Politico, urged foreign leaders to take airline flights to the funeral, highlighting the fact that Heathrow will not be open to private aircraft and that helicopter flights between airports and city center locations will not be allowed. The story further stated that dignitaries are being requested to use a bus shuttle service to get to and from the burial in order to minimize traffic congestion caused by hundreds of official vehicles trying to enter Westminster Abbey. The FCDO had no comments about this report.