MODO AVIÓN

Tokyo to London flight path

HND → LHRHNDLHR
The shortest path on the sphere. On a flat map it looks curved; on the globe it is a straight line.

Along the shortest route, the flight from Tokyo to London covers 5,960 miles (9,590 km) — about 11 h 30 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Japan, Russia, People's Republic of China, Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom. It crosses the Sea of Japan, the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea: 28% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+9 and land on UTC+1.

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From Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) · HND · LHR

HNDTokyo
LHRLondon
Great-circle distance
9,590 km
Duration, no wind
11 h 30 min
Over water
28 %
Time difference today
−8 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 Tokyo to London?

  • Japan
  • Russia
  • People's Republic of China
  • Finland
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • United Kingdom
  • Sea of Japan
  • Kara Sea
  • Barents Sea
  • North Sea

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Mount Fuji

To see Mount Fuji (3,776 m), sit on the left: it lies about 96 km from the route, ≈ 16 min into the flight.

Left window
  • Mount Fuji (3,776 m) ≈ 16 min
  • Takasaki ≈ 20 min
  • Maebashi ≈ 25 min
  • Nagano ≈ 25 min
  • Shuangyashan ≈ 1 h 55 min
  • Oslo ≈ 9 h 55 min
Right window
  • Utsunomiya ≈ 20 min
  • Nagaoka ≈ 30 min
  • Niigata ≈ 35 min
  • Mount Kamen (1,701 m) ≈ 5 h 35 min
  • Murmansk ≈ 8 h 15 min
  • Leicester ≈ 11 h 10 min

Left and right facing forward, on the theoretical route. Times are from take-off, with no wind.

Leg by leg

2 h4 h6 h8 h10 hUTC+10UTC+8UTC+10UTC+9UTC+8UTC+9UTC+7UTC+5UTC+3UTC+2UTC+1UTC+9Sea of JapanKara SeaNorth SeaStanovoy RangeKolaScandinaviaMount Kamen 1,701 m 92 kmOslo 17 kmShuangyashan 101 kmLeicester 106 kmMurmansk 76 kmHNDLHR▲ Left window▼ Right window◀ Left windowRight window ▶2 h4 h6 h8 h10 hUTC+10UTC+8UTC+10UTC+9UTC+8UTC+9UTC+7UTC+5UTC+3UTC+2UTC+1Sea of JapanKara SeaNorth SeaSikhote-AlinStanovoy RangeKolaScandinaviaMount Fuji3,776 m · 96 kmTakasaki28 km off routeMaebashi20 km off routeNagano82 km off routeShuangyashan101 km off routeOslo17 km off routeUtsunomiya53 km off routeNagaoka9 km off routeNiigata45 km off routeMount Kamen1,701 m · 92 kmMurmansk76 km off routeLeicester106 km off routeHNDLHRUTC+9

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg
  1. Take-off from Tokyo Haneda International Airport
  2. Below: Japan0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
  3. Mount Fuji, 3,776 m — on the left, 96 km away19 km · ≈ 16 min into the flight
  4. Below: Honshu32 km · ≈ 17 min into the flight
  5. Utsunomiya, Japan — on the right, 53 km away100 km · ≈ 20 min into the flight
  6. Takasaki, Japan — on the left, 28 km away108 km · ≈ 20 min into the flight
  7. Maebashi, Japan — on the left, 20 km away112 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
  8. Nagano, Japan — on the left, 82 km away170 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
  9. Nagaoka, Japan — on the right, 9 km away227 km · ≈ 30 min into the flight
  10. Sea of Japan — 735 km without land256 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
  11. Niigata, Japan — on the right, 45 km away268 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
  12. Local time below changes: UTC+9 to UTC+10959 km · ≈ 1 h 20 min into the flight
  13. Below: Sikhote-Alin991 km · ≈ 1 h 25 min into the flight
  14. Land again991 km · ≈ 1 h 25 min into the flight
  15. Local time below changes: UTC+10 to UTC+81,250 km · ≈ 1 h 40 min into the flight
  16. Shuangyashan, People's Republic of China — on the left, 101 km away1,430 km · ≈ 1 h 55 min into the flight
  17. Local time below changes: UTC+8 to UTC+101,500 km · ≈ 2 h 00 min into the flight
  18. Local time below changes: UTC+10 to UTC+91,690 km · ≈ 2 h 10 min into the flight
  19. Below: Stanovoy Range2,460 km · ≈ 3 h 05 min into the flight
  20. Below: Yablonoi Mountains2,810 km · ≈ 3 h 30 min into the flight
  21. Local time below changes: UTC+9 to UTC+83,070 km · ≈ 3 h 45 min into the flight
  22. Local time below changes: UTC+8 to UTC+93,100 km · ≈ 3 h 50 min into the flight
  23. Below: Central Siberian Plateau3,130 km · ≈ 3 h 50 min into the flight
  24. Local time below changes: UTC+9 to UTC+74,000 km · ≈ 4 h 50 min into the flight
  25. Mount Kamen, 1,701 m — on the right, 92 km away4,620 km · ≈ 5 h 35 min into the flight
  26. Below: West Siberian Plain4,990 km · ≈ 6 h 00 min into the flight
  27. Local time below changes: UTC+7 to UTC+55,210 km · ≈ 6 h 15 min into the flight
  28. Below: Gyda Peninsula5,240 km · ≈ 6 h 15 min into the flight
  29. Below: Yamal Peninsula5,500 km · ≈ 6 h 35 min into the flight
  30. Water starts: Kara Sea5,690 km · ≈ 6 h 45 min into the flight
  31. Below: Novaya Zemlya6,040 km · ≈ 7 h 10 min into the flight
  32. Local time below changes: UTC+5 to UTC+36,040 km · ≈ 7 h 10 min into the flight
  33. Land again6,070 km · ≈ 7 h 15 min into the flight
  34. Barents Sea — 671 km without land6,170 km · ≈ 7 h 20 min into the flight
  35. Below: Kola6,840 km · ≈ 8 h 05 min into the flight
  36. Land again6,840 km · ≈ 8 h 05 min into the flight
  37. Murmansk, Russia — on the right, 76 km away6,970 km · ≈ 8 h 15 min into the flight
  38. Below: Scandinavia7,450 km · ≈ 8 h 50 min into the flight
  39. Local time below changes: UTC+3 to UTC+27,480 km · ≈ 8 h 50 min into the flight
  40. Oslo, Norway — on the left, 17 km away8,420 km · ≈ 9 h 55 min into the flight
  41. North Sea — 671 km without land8,730 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
  42. Below: British Isles9,370 km · ≈ 11 h 00 min into the flight
  43. Below: Great Britain9,400 km · ≈ 11 h 05 min into the flight
  44. Land again9,400 km · ≈ 11 h 05 min into the flight
  45. Local time below changes: UTC+2 to UTC+19,400 km · ≈ 11 h 05 min into the flight
  46. Leicester, United Kingdom — on the right, 106 km away9,500 km · ≈ 11 h 10 min into the flight
  47. Landing at London Heathrow Airport9,590 km · ≈ 11 h 15 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.

Take-offLanding

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.

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Arriving in London

London
London · Photo: Ilya Grigorik · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Flight time and distance

About 11 h 30 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.

5,960 miles (9,590 km, 5,180 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

kmTimeZone
0 kmUTC+9Tokyo
959 kmUTC+10Vladivostok
1,250 kmUTC+8Shanghai
1,500 kmUTC+10Vladivostok
1,690 kmUTC+9Yakutsk
3,070 kmUTC+8Irkutsk
3,100 kmUTC+9Yakutsk
4,000 kmUTC+7Krasnoyarsk
5,210 kmUTC+5Yekaterinburg
6,040 kmUTC+3Moscow
7,480 kmUTC+2Stockholm
9,400 kmUTC+1London

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.

  • Fukuoka
  • Khabarovsk
  • Harbin
  • Khabarovsk
  • Yakutsk
  • Krasnoyarsk
  • Tyumen
  • Peterburg
  • Helsinki
  • Sweden
  • Polaris
  • Kobenhavn
  • Scottish
  • London

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Tokyo to London?

Along the shortest route, the flight from Tokyo to London covers 5,960 miles (9,590 km) — about 11 h 30 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Japan, Russia, People's Republic of China, Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom. It crosses the Sea of Japan, the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea: 28% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+9 and land on UTC+1.

What countries do you fly over from Tokyo to London?

It passes over or close to Japan, Russia, People's Republic of China, Finland, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom, and crosses the Sea of Japan, the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.

How long is the flight from Tokyo to London?

About 11 h 30 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 Tokyo from London by plane?

5,960 miles (9,590 km, 5,180 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?

28% of the route, about 2,650 km. The longest stretch without land is 735 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: London → Tokyo

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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.

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