JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

LHR London ⇄ PEK Beijing

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

Distance8,154 km5,067 mi4,403 nautical miles
LHR → PEK9 h 50 minestimated block time
PEK → LHR10 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change+8 hBeijing vs London, today
Great-circle route from London (LHR) to Beijing (PEK)LHRLondonPEKBeijing
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 → PEK

9 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 45° (NE).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Beijing Sun 8 Nov, 03:50 local +1 day.

PEK → LHR

10 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 325° (NW).

Leave Beijing Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 12:50 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 60 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 distance8,154 km · 5,067 mi · 4,403 nmi
Initial heading45° (NE) from LHR; 325° (NW) from PEK
Farthest from the equator63.7°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip41% 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
PEKAsia/Shanghai — UTC+8 now; UTC+8 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceBeijing is 8 hours ahead of London today; +8 h in January and +7 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LHR → PEK. Your body clock has to move 8 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 8 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 PEK Beijing Capital International AirportBeijing, China · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from LHR and PEK

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 PEKSHA Beijing – Shanghai 1,076 km668 mi · 2 h 15 min PEKCTU Beijing – Chengdu 1,558 km968 mi · 3 h PEKSZX Beijing – Shenzhen 1,957 km1,216 mi · 3 h 20 min FRAPEK Frankfurt – Beijing 7,789 km4,840 mi · 9 h 20 min SFOPEK San Francisco – Beijing 9,494 km5,899 mi · 12 h 40 min JFKPEK New York – Beijing 10,979 km6,822 mi · 13 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

MELHND Melbourne – Tokyo 8,158 km5,069 mi · 10 h 20 min HNLSYD Honolulu – Sydney 8,170 km5,077 mi · 10 h 35 min SFODUB San Francisco – Dublin 8,183 km5,085 mi · 9 h 55 min YVRICN Vancouver – Seoul 8,200 km5,095 mi · 11 h

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).