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LIS → GIG

Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Lisbon Humberto Delgado to Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim is 7,715 km of great circle — 4,794 mi — and an estimated 10h 05m in the air. It crosses from Europe to South America.

Great circle
7,715 km
4,794 mi
Estimated in the air
10h 05m
block time
Furthest from equator
38.8°N
at 0% along
One lap of Earth
19.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 85th longest.

The Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

What the aircraft actually flies over

From Lisbon the path crosses 5,690 km of open water, then Brazil, then 482 km of open water, then Brazil.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 38.8°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 Lisbon the aircraft points south-west (214°); it arrives into Rio de Janeiro heading south-west (208°). That is 6° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

From

LIS

Lisbon Humberto Delgado

Lisbon, Portugal · Europe

38.8°N, 9.1°W

To

GIG

Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · South America

22.8°S, 43.3°W

Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, asked and answered

How far is Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro?
Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro (LIS to GIG) is 7,715 km, or 4,794 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro?
About 10h 05m 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 Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro flight take?
The great circle passes over 5,690 km of open water, then Brazil, then 482 km of open water, then Brazil. It reaches 38.8°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 →

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