- Great circle
- 9,682 km
- 6,016 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 12h 32m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 51.5°N
- at 0% along
- One lap of Earth
- 24.2%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 46th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From London the path crosses France, then 629 km of open water, then Algeria, then Niger, then Nigeria, then Cameroon, then Gabon, then Congo, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Angola, then Namibia, then South Africa.
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.
The heading barely moves: south out of London, south into Cape Town. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass.
London to Cape Town, asked and answered
- How far is London to Cape Town?
- London to Cape Town (LHR to CPT) is 9,682 km, or 6,016 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from London to Cape Town?
- About 12h 32m 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 Cape Town flight take?
- The great circle passes over France, then 629 km of open water, then Algeria, then Niger, then Nigeria, then Cameroon, then Gabon, then Congo, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Angola, then Namibia, then South Africa. 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.
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