JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

ATL Atlanta ⇄ LHR London

Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (United States) and London Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance6,761 km4,201 mi3,651 nautical miles
ATL → LHR8 h 10 minestimated block time
LHR → ATL9 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change+4 hLondon vs Atlanta, today
Great-circle route from Atlanta (ATL) to London (LHR)ATLAtlantaLHRLondon
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

ATL → LHR

8 h 10 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 45° (NE).

Leave Atlanta Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 23:10 local.

LHR → ATL

9 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 288° (WNW).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Atlanta Sat 7 Nov, 14:25 local.

ATL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 75 minutes in our estimate: the route runs mostly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance6,761 km · 4,201 mi · 3,651 nmi
Initial heading45° (NE) from ATL; 288° (WNW) from LHR
Farthest from the equator53.8°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip34% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

ATLAmerica/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
LHREurope/London — UTC+0 now; UTC+0 standard time, UTC+1 during daylight saving time
DifferenceLondon is 4 hours ahead of Atlanta today.

Jet lag, flying ATL → LHR. Your body clock has to move 4 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 4 days to fully adjust. Shifting earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

ATL Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International AirportAtlanta, United States · longest runway 12,390 ft3,776 m LHR London Heathrow AirportLondon, United Kingdom · longest runway 12,799 ft3,901 m

More routes from ATL and LHR

ATLCLT Atlanta – Charlotte 365 km227 mi · 1 h 25 min ATLORD Atlanta – Chicago 976 km607 mi · 2 h 10 min ATLCUN Atlanta – Cancún 1,421 km883 mi · 2 h 40 min ATLDEN Atlanta – Denver 1,927 km1,197 mi · 3 h 30 min ATLFRA Atlanta – Frankfurt 7,409 km4,604 mi · 8 h 50 min ATLJNB Atlanta – Johannesburg 13,583 km8,440 mi · 15 h 55 min LHRMAN London – Manchester 243 km151 mi · 1 h 20 min LHROSL London – Oslo 1,206 km749 mi · 2 h 20 min LHRTLV London – Tel Aviv 3,589 km2,230 mi · 4 h 50 min LHRANU London – St. John's 6,553 km4,072 mi · 9 h 05 min LHRSEZ London – Mahé 8,176 km5,080 mi · 10 h LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

LGWBGI London – Barbados (Bridgetown) 6,759 km4,200 mi · 9 h 15 min MSPAMS Minneapolis – Amsterdam 6,685 km4,154 mi · 8 h 10 min AMSNBO Amsterdam – Nairobi 6,677 km4,149 mi · 8 h 25 min ORDCDG Chicago – Paris 6,665 km4,141 mi · 8 h 05 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).