---
title: "London to Bucharest (LHR → OTP): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "London to Bucharest is 2,105 km (1,308 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 07m 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-otp
---

LHR → OTP

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

London Heathrow to Bucharest Henri Coandă is 2,105 km of great circle — 1,308 mi — and an estimated 3h 07m in the air. Both ends are in Europe.

**Great circle**
2,105 km
1,308 mi

**Estimated in the air**
3h 07m
block time

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

**One lap of Earth**
5.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 196th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From London the path crosses United Kingdom, then Belgium, then Germany, then Austria, then Hungary, then Romania.

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 east (101°); it arrives into Bucharest heading south-east (121°). That is 20° 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 312 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

OTP

## Bucharest Henri Coandă

Bucharest, Romania · Europe

44.6°N, 26.1°E

[OTP airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/otp) [Flights to Bucharest →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/bucharest)

## London to Bucharest, asked and answered

**How far is London to Bucharest?**
London to Bucharest (LHR to OTP) is 2,105 km, or 1,308 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from London to Bucharest?**
About 3h 07m 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 Bucharest flight take?**
The great circle passes over United Kingdom, then Belgium, then Germany, then Austria, then Hungary, then Romania. 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

[BCN → OTP Barcelona to Bucharest 1,982 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/bcn-to-otp) [LHR → RAK London to Marrakesh 2,294 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-rak) [LHR → KEF London to Reykjavík 1,895 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-kef) [OTP → CDG Bucharest to Paris 1,851 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/otp-to-cdg) [LHR → HEL London to Helsinki 1,848 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-hel) [LHR → ATH London to Athens 2,427 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ath)

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