JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

JFK New York ⇄ LHR London

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

Distance5,540 km3,442 mi2,991 nautical miles
JFK → LHR6 h 50 minestimated block time
LHR → JFK7 h 55 minestimated block time
Clock change+4 hLondon vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to London (LHR)JFKNew YorkLHRLondon
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

JFK → LHR

6 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 51° (NE).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 21:50 local.

LHR → JFK

7 h 55 min

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

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 12:55 local.

JFK-bound flights are the slower direction by about 65 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 distance5,540 km · 3,442 mi · 2,991 nmi
Initial heading51° (NE) from JFK; 288° (WNW) from LHR
Farthest from the equator53.7°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip28% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

JFKAmerica/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 New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → 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

JFK John F. Kennedy International AirportNew York, United States · longest runway 14,511 ft4,423 m LHR London Heathrow AirportLondon, United Kingdom · longest runway 12,799 ft3,901 m

Same cities, other airports

EWRLHR Newark – London 5,562 km3,456 mi · 6 h 55 min

More routes from JFK and LHR

JFKBOS New York – Boston 300 km186 mi · 1 h 20 min JFKDEN New York – Denver 2,610 km1,622 mi · 4 h 20 min JFKMAD New York – Madrid 5,760 km3,579 mi · 7 h JFKFCO New York – Rome 6,866 km4,267 mi · 8 h 10 min JFKNRT New York – Tokyo 10,830 km6,729 mi · 13 h 50 min SINJFK Singapore – New York 15,341 km9,532 mi · 18 h 30 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

BOSCDG Boston – Paris 5,535 km3,439 mi · 6 h 50 min YULCDG Montreal – Paris 5,524 km3,433 mi · 6 h 50 min EWRLIS Newark – Lisbon 5,434 km3,376 mi · 6 h 40 min DXBMAN Dubai – Manchester 5,656 km3,515 mi · 8 h

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).