- Great circle
- 1,848 km
- 1,148 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 2h 48m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 60.3°N
- at 100% along
- One lap of Earth
- 4.6%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 205th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From London the path crosses United Kingdom, then 531 km of open water, then Denmark, then Sweden, then 383 km of open water, then Finland.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 60.3°N, 100% 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 north-east (48°); it arrives into Helsinki heading east (69°). That is 21° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.
London to Helsinki, asked and answered
- How far is London to Helsinki?
- London to Helsinki (LHR to HEL) is 1,848 km, or 1,148 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from London to Helsinki?
- About 2h 48m 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 Helsinki flight take?
- The great circle passes over United Kingdom, then 531 km of open water, then Denmark, then Sweden, then 383 km of open water, then Finland. It reaches 60.3°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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