From London Heathrow, Paris is about 350 km (under an hour in the air), Barcelona about 1,150 km (around 2 hours), Istanbul about 2,490 km (around 3.5 hours), New York JFK about 5,540 km (7 to 8 hours), Dubai about 5,500 km (around 7 hours), Bangkok about 9,580 km (around 12 hours) and Sydney about 17,020 km, usually flown with one stop. The table below covers 20 destinations, with each distance in kilometres and miles.
How long is the flight? It is the first question about any trip, and the answer depends on two things: the distance, which never changes, and the time, which does, with the winds, the season and the route the airline flies. This guide gives you both for 20 destinations people often fly to from London.
How these numbers work
- Distances are great-circle distances from London Heathrow (LHR): the shortest path over the Earth between the two airports. They are what flight logs and frequent flyer statistics use.
- Flight times are estimates of time in the air at 800 km/h, plus 30 minutes for taxi, take-off and landing. Airline schedules add extra time for busy airports, and winds matter: westbound flights across the Atlantic are often an hour or more longer than eastbound ones.
- Other London airports (Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City, Southend) are within about 80 km of Heathrow, so distances from them differ by at most that much.
For any route not listed, the free flight distance calculator gives the distance and estimated time between any two airports, with stops if you like.
Short-haul: up to 3 hours
| Destination | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|
| Paris (CDG) | 348 km (216 mi) | about 1 hour |
| Amsterdam (AMS) | 370 km (230 mi) | about 1 hour |
| Dublin (DUB) | 449 km (279 mi) | about 1 hour |
| Edinburgh (EDI) | 534 km (332 mi) | about 1 hour 10 min |
| Barcelona (BCN) | 1,148 km (713 mi) | about 2 hours |
| Madrid (MAD) | 1,244 km (773 mi) | about 2 hours |
| Rome (FCO) | 1,444 km (897 mi) | about 2 hours 20 min |
| Lisbon (LIS) | 1,564 km (972 mi) | about 2 hours 30 min |
| Malaga (AGP) | 1,676 km (1,041 mi) | about 2 hours 35 min |
Short flights are where the estimate is least precise: on a one-hour flight, taxiing and holding patterns at a busy airport are a big share of the time. Scheduled times between London and Paris or Amsterdam are usually around 1 hour 15 minutes gate to gate.
Medium-haul: 3 to 6 hours
| Destination | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|
| Athens (ATH) | 2,427 km (1,508 mi) | about 3 hours 30 min |
| Istanbul (IST) | 2,487 km (1,546 mi) | about 3 hours 35 min |
| Tenerife South (TFS) | 2,932 km (1,822 mi) | about 4 hours 10 min |
Tenerife surprises people: it is further from London than Istanbul, because the Canary Islands lie off the coast of Africa, far south of mainland Spain.
Long-haul: 6 to 12 hours
| Destination | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai (DXB) | 5,498 km (3,417 mi) | about 7 hours 20 min |
| New York (JFK) | 5,540 km (3,442 mi) | about 7 hours 25 min |
| Orlando (MCO) | 6,965 km (4,328 mi) | about 9 hours 10 min |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 8,760 km (5,443 mi) | about 11 hours 30 min |
New York is a good example of winds at work. Flying west from London into the jet stream typically takes around 8 hours; coming back east with it behind you can take under 7.
Ultra-long-haul: 12 hours and more
| Destination | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok (BKK) | 9,578 km (5,951 mi) | about 12 hours 30 min |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND) | 9,592 km (5,960 mi) | about 12 hours 30 min |
| Singapore (SIN) | 10,883 km (6,762 mi) | about 14 hours |
| Sydney (SYD) | 17,021 km (10,576 mi) | usually 22 hours or more with one stop |
Sydney is about as far from London as you can fly: almost exactly on the other side of the world. Today it is flown with a stop, typically in Singapore, Dubai, Doha or Perth. Qantas plans a non-stop Sydney–London flight from October 2027, which would become the longest flight in the world; see the longest flights in the world.
Choosing a London airport
London has six airports with scheduled flights, and the right one depends on where you are going and where you live.
- Heathrow (LHR): the main long-haul hub, with the widest choice of intercontinental flights. West London.
- Gatwick (LGW): short-haul leisure routes and a good number of long-haul flights. South of London.
- Stansted (STN) and Luton (LTN): mostly short-haul, often low-cost, flights to Europe. North-east and north of London.
- London City (LCY): short flights for business travellers, close to the City and Canary Wharf.
- Southend (SEN): a small airport east of London with a handful of European routes.
For distance, the choice barely matters: all six are within about 80 km of each other. For total journey time, the trip to the airport often matters more than the flight on short routes.
Jet lag by direction
Flying east, as on London to Dubai, Bangkok or Tokyo, usually causes worse jet lag than flying west, because your body finds it harder to sleep earlier than to stay up later. A common tip is to start shifting your sleep by an hour a day before an eastbound trip, and to get daylight in the morning after you land.
Why flights don’t follow the line on a flat map
On a flat map, the route from London to Tokyo or Los Angeles looks like a big curve towards the North Pole. That curve is the straight line. The Earth is round, and flat maps stretch the regions near the poles, so the shortest path looks bent. Our explainer on great-circle distance shows why.
Count your own flights from London
If you live in or near London, your flight history is probably a mix of the routes above. Add your flights to a free flight log and you get the totals: kilometres or miles flown, hours in the air, countries and the number of times you have flown around the Earth.
Questions
How long is the flight from London to New York?
About 7 to 8 hours. The distance from Heathrow to JFK is about 5,540 km (3,440 mi). Westbound flights are usually longer than eastbound ones because of the jet stream.
How long is the flight from London to Dubai?
About 7 hours. Heathrow to Dubai is about 5,500 km (3,420 mi).
How far is Sydney from London by plane?
About 17,020 km (10,580 mi) in a straight line over the Earth. It is usually flown with one stop, for a journey of 22 hours or more.
Is Tenerife further than Istanbul from London?
Yes. Tenerife South is about 2,930 km from Heathrow, Istanbul about 2,490 km.
How are flight times estimated?
At 800 km/h plus 30 minutes for taxi, take-off and landing. Real schedules vary with winds, routes and airport congestion.
Updated 2 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at hello@flew.world.
