How Long Is the Flight to London?

Quick answer: the flight to London (London Heathrow) is about 7 h 11 min in the air from New York and 11 h from Los Angeles, non-stop; a connection adds its layover. Of the busiest US airports, Boston is the closest at 6 h 50 min and Los Angeles the farthest at 11 h. Flying home from New York JFK is 37 min longer.

Pick two airports. See the distance, about how long a non-stop flight takes, and what time it will be when you land.

JFK → LHR · non-stop

7 h 11 minAbout 7 h 11 min gate to gate for 3,442 miles (5,540 km). Most scheduled flights of this length: 6 h 56 min to 7 h 26 min.

Distance: 3,442 mi
Lands: pick a date and time

The flight back, westbound into the jet stream, is slower: about 7 h 48 min.
An estimate from the scheduled times of 5,797 US routes (US DOT, 2026-06): half of them are within 7 minutes of it. Your airline’s schedule is the real answer.

Airports from OurAirports, time zones from mwgg/Airports, flight times fitted on US DOT schedules. An estimate for a non-stop: check your airline.

The calculator above opens on New York to London Heathrow: change either airport to yours, or add a date and a departure time for the local time you land. Below, the flight from each of the busiest US airports.

How long is the flight to London from each US airport?

The FAA’s busiest US airports by passengers in 2024, the quickest first. Times are the estimated gate-to-gate time of a non-stop; the clock change is London’s time minus the airport’s, in January and in July.

From	Distance	To London Heathrow	Flight back	Clock change (Jan / Jul)
Boston (BOS)	3,256 mi	6 h 50 min	7 h 26 min	+5 h / +5 h
New York JFK (JFK)	3,442 mi	7 h 11 min	7 h 48 min	+5 h / +5 h
Newark (EWR)	3,456 mi	7 h 12 min	7 h 50 min	+5 h / +5 h
Detroit (DTW)	3,756 mi	7 h 46 min	8 h 25 min	+5 h / +5 h
Chicago O’Hare (ORD)	3,942 mi	8 h 7 min	8 h 47 min	+6 h / +6 h
Charlotte (CLT)	3,983 mi	8 h 12 min	8 h 54 min	+5 h / +5 h
Minneapolis (MSP)	4,004 mi	8 h 14 min	8 h 54 min	+6 h / +6 h
Atlanta (ATL)	4,201 mi	8 h 37 min	9 h 21 min	+5 h / +5 h
Orlando (MCO)	4,328 mi	8 h 51 min	9 h 37 min	+5 h / +5 h
Fort Lauderdale (FLL)	4,397 mi	8 h 59 min	9 h 46 min	+5 h / +5 h
Miami (MIA)	4,417 mi	9 h 1 min	9 h 48 min	+5 h / +5 h
Denver (DEN)	4,658 mi	9 h 29 min	10 h 12 min	+7 h / +7 h
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)	4,739 mi	9 h 38 min	10 h 25 min	+6 h / +6 h
Seattle (SEA)	4,786 mi	9 h 46 min	10 h 22 min	+8 h / +8 h
Houston (IAH)	4,824 mi	9 h 47 min	10 h 36 min	+6 h / +6 h
Las Vegas (LAS)	5,216 mi	10 h 34 min	11 h 18 min	+8 h / +8 h
Phoenix (PHX)	5,258 mi	10 h 38 min	11 h 24 min	+7 h / +8 h
San Francisco (SFO)	5,354 mi	10 h 51 min	11 h 32 min	+8 h / +8 h
Los Angeles (LAX)	5,443 mi	11 h	11 h 45 min	+8 h / +8 h

4 of these routes are longer than any US route the estimate was measured on (4,983 miles), so treat those as a rough guide: the longer the flight, the more the wind moves it. LaGuardia, the 19th busiest, is left out: its flights are short-haul, and New York’s long flights leave from JFK and Newark.

Why the flight home is longer

From New York JFK the flight to London Heathrow is about 7 h 11 min and the flight back 7 h 48 min. The difference is the jet stream, the band of west-to-east wind at cruising height: flying east you ride it, flying west you fly into it. The estimate carries that as a single measured effect of how far east a route goes, which is why the two directions of the same route differ.

What the clock says when you land

London is 5 hours ahead of New York and 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year. Leave New York JFK at noon on Wednesday, July 15, and a non-stop would land in London Heathrow at about 12:11 a.m. the next day, Thursday, local time.

Flying into another airport

This page measures to London Heathrow (LHR). To London Gatwick (LGW) it is about 7 h 13 min from New York and 11 h 3 min from Los Angeles.

Is there a non-stop?

Which US airports fly to London non-stop changes with the airlines’ schedules, so this page does not list them: What US cities have direct flights to London? does. For any pair of airports, the calculator above gives the distance and the time.

Plan it

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FAQ

How long is the flight to London?

About 7 h 11 min non-stop from New York and 11 h from Los Angeles. Of the busiest US airports, Boston is the closest at 6 h 50 min and Los Angeles the farthest at 11 h. All are estimates of a non-stop; a connection adds its layover.

How long is the flight to London from New York?

About 7 h 11 min from JFK and 7 h 12 min from Newark, for 3,442 miles to London Heathrow. The flight back to New York is 37 min longer: about 7 h 48 min.

How long is the flight to London from Los Angeles?

About 11 h from LAX, and 10 h 51 min from San Francisco, for 5,443 miles. The flight back is 45 min longer: about 11 h 45 min.

What is the time difference between London and the US?

London is 5 hours ahead of New York and 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year.

Is there a direct flight to London?

From some US cities, yes — which ones changes with the airlines’ schedules, so this page does not list them. Our post What US cities have direct flights to London? does, and your airline’s schedule is the final word.

How these times are made

Distances are great circles between the airports (OurAirports). Times come from one line fitted to the median scheduled gate-to-gate time of 5,797 US routes (US DOT, 2026-06): a fixed allowance, a time per mile, and a correction for how far east the route goes. Half of those routes are within 7 minutes of it. The busiest airports are the FAA’s 2024 passenger boardings. Your airline’s schedule is the real answer: winds, routings and the season move it by a few minutes on a short flight and by more on a long one.