---
title: "London to Athens (LHR → ATH): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "London to Athens is 2,427 km (1,508 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 31m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ath
---

LHR → ATH

# London to Athens: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

London Heathrow to Athens Eleftherios Venizelos is 2,427 km of great circle — 1,508 mi — and an estimated 3h 31m in the air. Both ends are in Europe.

**Great circle**
2,427 km
1,508 mi

**Estimated in the air**
3h 31m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
51.5°N
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
6.1%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 184th longest.

The London to Athens route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From London the path crosses France, then Italy, then 322 km of open water, then Albania, then Greece.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 51.5°N, 0% of the way along.

Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.

Leaving London the aircraft points south-east (119°); it arrives into Athens heading south-east (136°). That is 17° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

One economy seat on it is about 360 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[LHR–ATH carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=LHR&to=ATH) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=LHR-ATH)

From

LHR

## London Heathrow

London, United Kingdom · Europe

51.5°N, 0.5°W

[LHR airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lhr) [Flights to London →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/london)

To

ATH

## Athens Eleftherios Venizelos

Athens, Greece · Europe

37.9°N, 23.9°E

[ATH airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/ath)

## London to Athens, asked and answered

**How far is London to Athens?**
London to Athens (LHR to ATH) is 2,427 km, or 1,508 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from London to Athens?**
About 3h 31m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a London to Athens flight take?**
The great circle passes over France, then Italy, then 322 km of open water, then Albania, then Greece. It reaches 51.5°N at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[LHR → IST London to Istanbul 2,487 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ist) [LHR → RAK London to Marrakesh 2,294 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-rak) [LHR → OTP London to Bucharest 2,105 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-otp) [LHR → TFS London to Tenerife 2,932 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-tfs) [LHR → KEF London to Reykjavík 1,895 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-kef) [LHR → HEL London to Helsinki 1,848 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-hel)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ath for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt