London to Sydney (LHR–SYD): distance and flight time

Longer than any nonstop airliner route flown today. At 17,021 km10,576 mi, this pair is beyond the roughly 15,400 km of the longest scheduled nonstop flights, so real trips connect somewhere; the times below are what a hypothetical nonstop would take.

Flight time each way

LHR → SYD

19 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 60° (ENE).

Leave London Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Sydney Sun 8 Nov, 16:30 local +1 day.

SYD → LHR

21 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 319° (NW).

Leave Sydney Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive London Sat 7 Nov, 20:20 local.

LHR-bound flights are the slower direction by about 110 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 distance	17,021 km · 10,576 mi · 9,190 nmi
Initial heading	60° (ENE) from LHR; 319° (NW) from SYD
Farthest from the equator	57.2°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crosses	the equator
Share of the longest possible trip	85% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LHR	Europe/London — UTC+0 now; UTC+0 standard time, UTC+1 during daylight saving time
SYD	Australia/Sydney — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
Difference	Sydney is 11 hours ahead of London today; +11 h in January and +9 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LHR → SYD. Your body clock has to move 11 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 11 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

SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith International AirportSydney, Australia · longest runway 12,999 ft3,962 m

More routes from LHR and SYD

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 LHRPER London – Perth 14,508 km9,015 mi · 16 h 45 min SYDCBR Sydney – Canberra 236 km147 mi · 1 h 20 min SYDCHC Sydney – Christchurch 2,126 km1,321 mi · 3 h 15 min SYDMNL Sydney – Manila 6,263 km3,892 mi · 8 h 20 min HNLSYD Honolulu – Sydney 8,170 km5,077 mi · 10 h 35 min SFOSYD San Francisco – Sydney 11,950 km7,425 mi · 15 h 10 min IAHSYD Houston – Sydney 13,836 km8,597 mi · 17 h 25 min

Routes of a similar length

SINJFK Singapore – New York 15,341 km9,532 mi · 18 h 30 min SINEWR Singapore – Newark 15,337 km9,530 mi · 18 h 30 min DOHAKL Doha – Auckland 14,534 km9,031 mi · 16 h 50 min DFWMEL Dallas–Fort Worth – Melbourne 14,475 km8,995 mi · 18 h 15 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).

LHR London ⇄ SYD Sydney