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Major airlines offer flexibility for affected travelers

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Event marks U.S. Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th

birthday

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation

Administration plans to suspend flights at Reagan Washington

National Airport from 6 p.m. ET to 9:30 p.m. during U.S.

President Donald Trump's Army anniversary parade on Saturday,

the agency said Wednesday.

The FAA is expanding the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area

Special Flight Rules Area and from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. will stop

all arrivals and departures at the airport just outside

Washington.

Major airlines are offering flexibility to travelers. United

Airlines said it is offering a travel waiver for Reagan

National, as well as adding two additional departures from and

two additional arrivals at nearby Washington Dulles

International Airport on Saturday.

American Airlines ( AAL ) said it has "adjusted our

schedule during this timeframe, temporarily added larger

aircraft at DCA to accommodate more customers at alternative

times and issued a travel alert that includes flexibility to

travel on a different day or through Washington Dulles and

Baltimore Washington at no extra cost."

The long-planned celebration for the U.S. Army's 250th

anniversary will coincide with the president's 79th birthday.

The airport is located less than two miles from the National

Mall.

The U.S. Army is bringing 6,500 troops into Washington,

along with 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft for the celebration. The

flyover will include Apache and Black Hawk helicopters along

with Chinooks. Older aircraft like the World War Two-era B-25

bomber and P-51 Mustang will also take part.

The Washington area is the most heavily restricted airspace

in the United States. No drones are permitted in Washington

without special FAA approval.

The FAA has barred routine Army training and transport

helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a May 1 close call

and the Jan. 29 collision of an American regional jet and Army

helicopter that killed 67.