JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

LHR London ⇄ ADD Addis Ababa

London Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom) and Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (Ethiopia): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance5,920 km3,678 mi3,196 nautical miles
LHR → ADD7 h 30 minestimated block time
ADD → LHR8 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+3 hAddis Ababa vs London, today
Great-circle route from London (LHR) to Addis Ababa (ADD)LHRLondonADDAddis Ababa
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

LHR → ADD

7 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 129° (SE).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Addis Ababa Sat 7 Nov, 20:30 local.

ADD → LHR

8 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 331° (NNW).

Leave Addis Ababa Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 15:05 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 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 distance5,920 km · 3,678 mi · 3,196 nmi
Initial heading129° (SE) from LHR; 331° (NNW) from ADD
Farthest from the equator51.5°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip30% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LHREurope/London — UTC+0 now; UTC+0 standard time, UTC+1 during daylight saving time
ADDAfrica/Addis_Ababa — UTC+3 now; UTC+3 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceAddis Ababa is 3 hours ahead of London today; +3 h in January and +2 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LHR → ADD. Your body clock has to move 3 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 3 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

LHR London Heathrow AirportLondon, United Kingdom · longest runway 12,799 ft3,901 m ADD Addis Ababa Bole International AirportAddis Ababa, Ethiopia · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from LHR and ADD

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 NBOADD Nairobi – Addis Ababa 1,164 km723 mi · 2 h 20 min ADDDXB Addis Ababa – Dubai 2,519 km1,565 mi · 3 h 50 min JNBADD Johannesburg – Addis Ababa 4,068 km2,528 mi · 5 h 40 min IADADD Washington – Addis Ababa 11,563 km7,185 mi · 13 h 15 min

Routes of a similar length

DXBHKG Dubai – Hong Kong 5,919 km3,678 mi · 7 h 20 min ORDDUB Chicago – Dublin 5,895 km3,663 mi · 7 h 15 min EWRCDG Newark – Paris 5,857 km3,640 mi · 7 h 10 min JFKAMS New York – Amsterdam 5,848 km3,634 mi · 7 h 10 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).