JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

BOS Boston ⇄ LHR London

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

Distance5,240 km3,256 mi2,829 nautical miles
BOS → LHR6 h 30 minestimated block time
LHR → BOS7 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+4 hLondon vs Boston, today
Great-circle route from Boston (BOS) to London (LHR)BOSBostonLHRLondon
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

BOS → LHR

6 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 53° (NE).

Leave Boston Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 21:30 local.

LHR → BOS

7 h 35 min

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

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Boston Sat 7 Nov, 12:35 local.

BOS-bound flights are the slower direction by about 60 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 distance5,240 km · 3,256 mi · 2,829 nmi
Initial heading53° (NE) from BOS; 288° (WNW) from LHR
Farthest from the equator53.7°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip26% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

BOSAmerica/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 Boston today.

Jet lag, flying BOS → 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

BOS Boston Logan International AirportBoston, United States · longest runway 10,083 ft3,073 m LHR London Heathrow AirportLondon, United Kingdom · longest runway 12,799 ft3,901 m

More routes from BOS and LHR

LGABOS New York – Boston 296 km184 mi · 1 h 20 min BOSDCA Boston – Washington 641 km398 mi · 1 h 50 min ATLBOS Atlanta – Boston 1,521 km945 mi · 2 h 40 min BOSKEF Boston – Reykjavík 3,875 km2,408 mi · 5 h 15 min SFOBOS San Francisco – Boston 4,341 km2,697 mi · 5 h 30 min BOSCDG Boston – Paris 5,535 km3,439 mi · 6 h 50 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 LHRDEL London – Delhi 6,731 km4,183 mi · 8 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

DXBCDG Dubai – Paris 5,239 km3,255 mi · 7 h 35 min YYZDUB Toronto – Dublin 5,261 km3,269 mi · 6 h 35 min DOHBKK Doha – Bangkok 5,280 km3,281 mi · 6 h 45 min SINHND Singapore – Tokyo 5,300 km3,293 mi · 6 h 50 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).