---
title: "London to Cape Town (LHR → CPT): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "London to Cape Town is 9,682 km (6,016 mi) great circle, an estimated 12h 32m 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-cpt
---

LHR → CPT

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

London Heathrow to Cape Town is 9,682 km of great circle — 6,016 mi — and an estimated 12h 32m in the air. It crosses from Europe to Africa.

**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](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 46th longest.

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

## 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.

One economy seat on it is about 1.37 t of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

CPT

## Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa · Africa

34.0°S, 18.6°E

[CPT airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/cpt)

## 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.

[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 → HKG London to Hong Kong 9,630 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-hkg) [LHR → HND London to Tokyo 9,592 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-hnd) [LHR → NRT London to Tokyo 9,591 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-nrt) [LHR → MRU London to Mauritius 9,784 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-mru) [LHR → BKK London to Bangkok 9,578 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-bkk) [LHR → GRU London to São Paulo 9,460 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-gru)

## 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)

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