Queen funeral request Anthony Albanese won’t agree to

A major request for world leaders to reconsider their travel plans for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral has been dismissed by Australia’s Prime Minister.

A request for world leaders to make their way to London via commercial flights has been swiftly dismissed by Anthony Albanese.

Documents obtained by Politico revealed foreign heads of states and their spouses were asked to travel on commercial flights and that the use of helicopters to get around had been banned.

State cars cannot be used to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, to be held next Monday, and leaders will instead be bussed en masse to Westminster Abbey.

Anthony Albanese has typically flown privately when travelling overseas. Pictured at Sydney Airport. Picture: Damian Shaw

But the Prime Minister, who was unkindly dubbed ‘Airbus Albo’ after his repeated overseas jaunts so quickly after his election, has insisted he will still be taking the Royal Australian Air Force’s VIP jet on Thursday evening.

“They’re longstanding plans for myself and the Governor-General to travel to London and we’ll be doing so on Thursday night,” Mr Albanese told the ABC.

Earlier, Mr Albanese’s deputy Richard Marles suggested prime ministers never flew commercial due to security concerns.

“That has to be the paramount consideration here. And I might add that that’s not just a consideration from the point of view of the security of the prime minister, it’s also about the security of the public,” he told ABC’s Radio National.

Security concerns have been cited for the Prime Minister travelling via the RAAF jet. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Yet prime ministers are known to travel commercial.

Earlier this year, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern travelled to Australia commercially, and announced plans to travel to the UN General Assembly later this month by the national carrier.

RAAF planes will also be dispatched to help transport the leaders of 10 Pacific Island nations and New Zealand to the United Kingdom for the memorial service.

It’s understood the VIP jets will not be landing at London’s Heathrow Airport, which foreign leaders have been told will not be available for private flight arrangements or aircraft parking.

But is not yet known if the Prime Minister will follow precedent and purchase carbon credits to offset his travel.

Last year, it was confirmed Scott Morrison’s department had to make the $20,000 purchase after the UK government requested he offset his travel to the G7 meeting in Cornwall.