London to New York flight path
Along the shortest route, the flight from London to New York covers 3,440 miles (5,540 km) — about 6 h 50 min with no wind. It passes over or close to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Labrador Sea and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence: 77% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+1 and land on UTC−4.
Get Modo Avión for Android Share this route
From London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) · LHR · JFK
- Great-circle distance
- 5,540 km
- Duration, no wind
- 6 h 50 min
- Over water
- 77 %
- Time difference today
- −5 h
The route drawn is the theoretical one — the shortest path on the sphere. The real aircraft follows airways, avoids storms and closed airspace, and rides the wind: it can be hundreds of kilometres off.
What countries do you fly over from London to New York?
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Canada
- United States
- Atlantic Ocean
- Labrador Sea
- Gulf of Saint Lawrence
- Bay of Fundy
- Gulf of Maine
- Massachusetts Bay
Which side of the plane to sit on to see Birmingham
- Bristol ≈ 25 min
- Cardiff ≈ 25 min
- Swansea ≈ 30 min
- Leicester ≈ 20 min
- Coventry ≈ 20 min
- Birmingham ≈ 25 min
- Wolverhampton ≈ 25 min
- Dublin ≈ 45 min
- Boston ≈ 6 h 15 min
Left and right facing forward, on the theoretical route. Times are from take-off, with no wind.
Leg by leg
LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change
See the full list, leg by leg
- Take-off from London Heathrow Airport
- Below: Great Britain0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
- Leicester, United Kingdom — on the right, 110 km away83 km · ≈ 20 min into the flight
- Coventry, United Kingdom — on the right, 78 km away100 km · ≈ 20 min into the flight
- Birmingham, United Kingdom — on the right, 78 km away128 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
- Bristol, United Kingdom — on the left, 45 km away141 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
- Wolverhampton, United Kingdom — on the right, 85 km away145 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
- Cardiff, United Kingdom — on the left, 54 km away181 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
- Below: Cambrian Mountains203 km · ≈ 30 min into the flight
- Swansea, United Kingdom — on the left, 53 km away236 km · ≈ 30 min into the flight
- Below: British Isles295 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
- Below: Ireland425 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
- Dublin, Ireland — on the right, 93 km away434 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
- Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea — 3,070 km without land646 km · ≈ 1 h 00 min into the flight
- Local time below changes: UTC+1 to UTC−2:303,640 km · ≈ 4 h 25 min into the flight
- Below: Newfoundland3,710 km · ≈ 4 h 30 min into the flight
- Land again3,710 km · ≈ 4 h 30 min into the flight
- Water starts: Gulf of Saint Lawrence4,150 km · ≈ 5 h 00 min into the flight
- Local time below changes: UTC−2:30 to UTC−34,190 km · ≈ 5 h 05 min into the flight
- Below: Prince Edward Island4,410 km · ≈ 5 h 20 min into the flight
- Below: Nova Scotia4,540 km · ≈ 5 h 30 min into the flight
- Land again4,540 km · ≈ 5 h 30 min into the flight
- Water starts: Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine4,650 km · ≈ 5 h 35 min into the flight
- Local time below changes: UTC−3 to UTC−44,950 km · ≈ 5 h 55 min into the flight
- Boston, United States — on the right, 12 km away5,240 km · ≈ 6 h 15 min into the flight
- Land again5,240 km · ≈ 6 h 15 min into the flight
- Below: Long Island5,500 km · ≈ 6 h 35 min into the flight
- Landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport5,540 km · ≈ 6 h 35 min into the flight
Times assume a typical jet speed, no wind and an on-time departure. Good for orientation, not for your watch.
Which side the sun, sunrise or sunset will be on
Enter the day and take-off time. Your phone does the maths: the sun's position on every leg of the route, relative to the nose of the aircraft.
Sky: light is daytime, amber is sunrise or sunset, dark is night. Left and Right show which side the sun is on for each leg.
Follow the route offline in airplane mode
All of this on board and with no signal: with your phone in airplane mode, Modo Avión shows where you are, what's below and how long is left. GPS still works, because it only listens to satellites.
Free · no account · no ads · 28.4 MB · Android 8 or newer
Arriving in New York
.jpg){kind=link}
Flight time and distance
About 6 h 50 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.
3,440 miles (5,540 km, 2,990 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.
Time zones you cross
| km | Time | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| 0 km | UTC+1 | London |
| 3,640 km | UTC−2:30 | St Johns |
| 4,190 km | UTC−3 | Glace Bay |
| 4,950 km | UTC−4 | New York |
Airspace (FIRs) along the route
Each is a control region: when the aircraft crosses the boundary, the centre talking to the pilot changes. Boundaries are approximate, from the VATSIM data set, not the official ICAO chart.
- London
- Dublin
- Shannon
- Shanwick Oceanic
- Gander Oceanic
- Moncton
- Boston
- New York
FAQ
Where does the plane fly from London to New York?
Along the shortest route, the flight from London to New York covers 3,440 miles (5,540 km) — about 6 h 50 min with no wind. It passes over or close to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Labrador Sea and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence: 77% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+1 and land on UTC−4.
What countries do you fly over from London to New York?
It passes over or close to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States, and crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Labrador Sea and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.
How long is the flight from London to New York?
About 6 h 50 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.
How far is London from New York by plane?
3,440 miles (5,540 km, 2,990 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.
How much of the flight is over water?
77% of the route, about 4,250 km. The longest stretch without land is 3,070 km.
Why doesn't the plane fly in a straight line on the map?
It does fly straight — on a sphere. On a flat map the shortest path looks curved; on the globe on this page it looks like what it is.
Does GPS work in airplane mode?
Yes. GPS is a receiver: it listens to satellites and transmits nothing, so it keeps working in airplane mode. What you won't have is a map unless you downloaded it; Modo Avión carries its own.
More routes
The way back: New York → London
- Buenos Aires → New York
- New York → Buenos Aires
- Madrid → New York
- New York → Tokyo
- London → Sydney
- London → Tokyo
- London → Singapore
- Singapore → New York
Look up another route
How this was calculated
The route is the great-circle arc between both airports, split into 300 points. At each point a point-in-polygon test runs against 1,102 airspace regions, 418 time zones and 1,338 physical geography regions. Countries are those with a town within 25 km of the route: in empty areas one may be missing. Cities named have over 250,000 people and lie within 110 km.