JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

LHR London ⇄ NBO Nairobi

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

Distance6,841 km4,251 mi3,694 nautical miles
LHR → NBO8 h 35 minestimated block time
NBO → LHR9 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+3 hNairobi vs London, today
Great-circle route from London (LHR) to Nairobi (NBO)LHRLondonNBONairobi
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 → NBO

8 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 136° (SE).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Nairobi Sat 7 Nov, 21:35 local.

NBO → LHR

9 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 335° (NNW).

Leave Nairobi Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 16:05 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 30 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 distance6,841 km · 4,251 mi · 3,694 nmi
Initial heading136° (SE) from LHR; 335° (NNW) from NBO
Farthest from the equator51.5°N
Crossesthe equator
Share of the longest possible trip34% 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
NBOAfrica/Nairobi — UTC+3 now; UTC+3 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceNairobi 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 → NBO. 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 NBO Jomo Kenyatta International AirportNairobi, Kenya · longest runway 13,507 ft4,117 m

More routes from LHR and NBO

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 LHRSEZ London – Mahé 8,176 km5,080 mi · 10 h LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min NBOZNZ Nairobi – Zanzibar 602 km374 mi · 1 h 45 min NBOADD Nairobi – Addis Ababa 1,164 km723 mi · 2 h 20 min JNBNBO Johannesburg – Nairobi 2,912 km1,810 mi · 4 h 20 min AMSNBO Amsterdam – Nairobi 6,677 km4,149 mi · 8 h 25 min

Routes of a similar length

JFKFCO New York – Rome 6,866 km4,267 mi · 8 h 10 min LGWBGI London – Barbados (Bridgetown) 6,759 km4,200 mi · 9 h 15 min ORDFRA Chicago – Frankfurt 6,971 km4,331 mi · 8 h 25 min MSPAMS Minneapolis – Amsterdam 6,685 km4,154 mi · 8 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).