---
title: "London to Helsinki (LHR → HEL): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "London to Helsinki is 1,848 km (1,148 mi) great circle, an estimated 2h 48m 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-hel
---

LHR → HEL

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

London Heathrow to Helsinki Vantaa is 1,848 km of great circle — 1,148 mi — and an estimated 2h 48m in the air. Both ends are in Europe.

**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](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 205th longest.

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

## 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.

One economy seat on it is about 274 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

HEL

## Helsinki Vantaa

Helsinki, Finland · Europe

60.3°N, 25.0°E

[HEL airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/hel)

## 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.

[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 → KEF London to Reykjavík 1,895 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-kef) [LHR → FAO London to Faro 1,713 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-fao) [LHR → AGP London to Málaga 1,676 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-agp) [LHR → OTP London to Bucharest 2,105 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-otp) [LHR → LIS London to Lisbon 1,564 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-lis) [LHR → BUD London to Budapest 1,489 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-bud)

## 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-hel for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt