JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe

LHR London ⇄ ATH Athens

London Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom) and Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (Greece): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance2,427 km1,508 mi1,310 nautical miles
LHR → ATH3 h 35 minestimated block time
ATH → LHR4 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hAthens vs London, today
Great-circle route from London (LHR) to Athens (ATH)LHRLondonATHAthens
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 → ATH

3 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 119° (ESE).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Athens Sat 7 Nov, 15:35 local.

ATH → LHR

4 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 316° (NW).

Leave Athens Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 12:05 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 25 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 distance2,427 km · 1,508 mi · 1,310 nmi
Initial heading119° (ESE) from LHR; 316° (NW) from ATH
Farthest from the equator51.5°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip12% 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
ATHEurope/Athens — UTC+2 now; UTC+2 standard time, UTC+3 during daylight saving time
DifferenceAthens is 2 hours ahead of London today.

Jet lag, flying LHR → ATH. Your body clock has to move 2 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. 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 ATH Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International AirportAthens, Greece · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from LHR and ATH

LHRMAN London – Manchester 243 km151 mi · 1 h 20 min LHROSL London – Oslo 1,206 km749 mi · 2 h 20 min AMMLHR Amman – London 3,683 km2,288 mi · 5 h 35 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 ATHJMK Athens – Mykonos 136 km84 mi · 1 h 10 min ATHJTR Athens – Santorini 218 km136 mi · 1 h 15 min ATHIST Athens – Istanbul 553 km344 mi · 1 h 40 min FCOATH Rome – Athens 1,085 km674 mi · 2 h 10 min AMSATH Amsterdam – Athens 2,182 km1,356 mi · 3 h 20 min JFKATH New York – Athens 7,933 km4,929 mi · 9 h 20 min

Routes of a similar length

ORDLAS Chicago – Las Vegas 2,432 km1,511 mi · 4 h 10 min MIABOG Miami – Bogotá 2,435 km1,513 mi · 3 h 50 min DXBCAI Dubai – Cairo 2,417 km1,502 mi · 4 h LIMSCL Lima – Santiago 2,462 km1,530 mi · 3 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).