JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

LHR London ⇄ CMB Colombo

London Heathrow Airport (United Kingdom) and Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (Sri Lanka): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,715 km5,415 mi4,706 nautical miles
LHR → CMB10 h 20 minestimated block time
CMB → LHR11 h 40 minestimated block time
Clock change+5 h 30 minColombo vs London, today
Great-circle route from London (LHR) to Colombo (CMB)LHRLondonCMBColombo
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 → CMB

10 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 93° (E).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Colombo Sun 8 Nov, 01:50 local +1 day.

CMB → LHR

11 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 321° (NW).

Leave Colombo Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 16:10 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 75 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 distance8,715 km · 5,415 mi · 4,706 nmi
Initial heading93° (E) from LHR; 321° (NW) from CMB
Farthest from the equator51.5°N
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

LHREurope/London — UTC+0 now; UTC+0 standard time, UTC+1 during daylight saving time
CMBAsia/Colombo — UTC+5:30 now; UTC+5:30 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceColombo is 5 h 30 min ahead of London today; +5 h 30 min in January and +4 h 30 min in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LHR → CMB. Your body clock has to move 5 h 30 min 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 6 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 CMB Bandaranaike International Colombo AirportColombo, Sri Lanka · longest runway 10,991 ft3,350 m

More routes from LHR and CMB

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 CMBMLE Colombo – Malé 778 km483 mi · 1 h 55 min

Routes of a similar length

CDGJNB Paris – Johannesburg 8,737 km5,429 mi · 10 h 50 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 LAXNRT Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,753 km5,439 mi · 12 h 05 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).