In the hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth II was made public on Thursday, online searches for flights to London surged around the world, according to data analysed by the travel app Hopper.
In the hour after Buckingham Palace announced Her Majesty had passed, demand for flights to London from the United States spiked by nearly 50 per cent. Globally, search demand for London-bound flights surged by 41 per cent compared to the three hours before Queen Elizabeth’s death was confirmed.
“Demand from the US to London spiked by 49% on Thursday at the time of the announcement of the Queen’s death, compared to the same time on Wednesday,” explained Hayley Berg at Hopper.
Berg says the United Kingdom is traditionally the most popular international destination from the United States based on search demand and the sad news from across the Pond has supercharged demand.
“Current airfare from the US to London is averaging $710 per round trip ticket,” Berg says, although prices for flights on dates close to the royal funeral are likely to spike much higher.
The body of Queen Elizabeth II is to be moved from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh on Sunday where it will lie in rest at St Giles for 24 hours so that members of the public can pay their respects.
On Tuesday evening, the Queen’s coffin will be flown down to London and taken t Buckingham Palace before it is moved in a procession to Westminster Hall on Wednesday. The Queen will lie in rest until the morning of Monday, 19th September before a full State funeral takes place.
The highest demand for flights to the UK is currently being recorded in the United States, but demand is also running high in Canada, Italy, India and Germany. In percentage terms, Albania witnessed the highest spike in flight searches to London with a 730 per cent surge.
