- Great circle
- 788 km
- 490 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 1h 29m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 51.5°N
- at 0% along
- One lap of Earth
- 2.0%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 265th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From London the path crosses United Kingdom, then France, then Germany.
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 (121°); it arrives into Zurich heading south-east (128°). 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.
London to Zurich, asked and answered
- How far is London to Zurich?
- London to Zurich (LHR to ZRH) is 788 km, or 490 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from London to Zurich?
- About 1h 29m 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 Zurich flight take?
- The great circle passes over United Kingdom, then France, then Germany. 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.
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