--- title: "London to Zurich (LHR → ZRH): distance and flight time · Orbit" description: "London to Zurich is 788 km (490 mi) great circle, an estimated 1h 29m 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-zrh --- LHR → ZRH # London to Zurich: distance, flight time and the route it really takes London Heathrow to Zürich is 788 km of great circle — 490 mi — and an estimated 1h 29m in the air. Both ends are in Europe. **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](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 265th longest. The London to Zurich 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 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. One economy seat on it is about 117 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming. [LHR–ZRH carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=LHR&to=ZRH) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=LHR-ZRH) 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 ZRH ## Zürich Zurich, Switzerland · Europe 47.5°N, 8.5°E [ZRH airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/zrh) ## 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. [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 → FRA London to Frankfurt 654 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-fra) [LHR → MXP London to Milan 936 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-mxp) [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) ## 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) --- Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-zrh for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt