---
title: "London to Milan (LHR → MXP): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "London to Milan is 936 km (582 mi) great circle, an estimated 1h 40m 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-mxp
---

LHR → MXP

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

London Heathrow to Milan Malpensa is 936 km of great circle — 582 mi — and an estimated 1h 40m in the air. Both ends are in Europe.

**Great circle**
936 km
582 mi

**Estimated in the air**
1h 40m
block time

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

**One lap of Earth**
2.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 256th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From London the path crosses United Kingdom, then France, then Switzerland, then Italy.

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 (130°); it arrives into Milan heading south-east (137°). That is 7° 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 139 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

MXP

## Milan Malpensa

Milan, Italy · Europe

45.6°N, 8.7°E

[MXP airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/mxp)

## London to Milan, asked and answered

**How far is London to Milan?**
London to Milan (LHR to MXP) is 936 km, or 582 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from London to Milan?**
About 1h 40m 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 Milan flight take?**
The great circle passes over United Kingdom, then France, then Switzerland, then Italy. 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 → MUC London to Munich 941 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-muc) [LHR → BER London to Berlin 961 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ber) [LHR → CPH London to Copenhagen 979 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-cph) [LHR → PRG London to Prague 1,044 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-prg) [LHR → ZRH London to Zurich 788 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-zrh) [LHR → BCN London to Barcelona 1,148 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-bcn)

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