JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ LHR London

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

Distance8,760 km5,443 mi4,730 nautical miles
LAX → LHR10 h 25 minestimated block time
LHR → LAX11 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+7 hLondon vs Los Angeles, today
Great-circle route from Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR)LAXLos AngelesLHRLondon
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

LAX → LHR

10 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 34° (NE).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sun 8 Nov, 04:25 local +1 day.

LHR → LAX

11 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 312° (NW).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 13:35 local.

LAX-bound flights are the slower direction by about 70 minutes in our estimate: the route runs partly 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 distance8,760 km · 5,443 mi · 4,730 nmi
Initial heading34° (NE) from LAX; 312° (NW) from LHR
Farthest from the equator62.3°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip44% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LAXAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
LHREurope/London — UTC+0 now; UTC+0 standard time, UTC+1 during daylight saving time
DifferenceLondon is 7 hours ahead of Los Angeles today.

Jet lag, flying LAX → LHR. Your body clock has to move 7 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 7 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

LAX Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles, United States · longest runway 12,894 ft3,930 m LHR London Heathrow AirportLondon, United Kingdom · longest runway 12,799 ft3,901 m

More routes from LAX and LHR

LAXLAS Los Angeles – Las Vegas 380 km236 mi · 1 h 25 min LAXSEA Los Angeles – Seattle 1,537 km955 mi · 2 h 50 min EWRLAX Newark – Los Angeles 3,941 km2,449 mi · 6 h 05 min LAXAMS Los Angeles – Amsterdam 8,956 km5,565 mi · 10 h 45 min LAXTPE Los Angeles – Taipei 10,922 km6,787 mi · 14 h 40 min LAXSIN Los Angeles – Singapore 14,102 km8,762 mi · 18 h 25 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 LHRPEK London – Beijing 8,154 km5,067 mi · 9 h 50 min LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

CDGJNB Paris – Johannesburg 8,737 km5,429 mi · 10 h 50 min SFOAMS San Francisco – Amsterdam 8,785 km5,459 mi · 10 h 35 min FRAJNB Frankfurt – Johannesburg 8,690 km5,400 mi · 10 h 50 min ISTSIN Istanbul – Singapore 8,681 km5,394 mi · 10 h 25 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).