Los Angeles to London distance

Los Angeles to London in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Los Angeles and London are 5,454 miles (8,777 km) apart, 22% of the way around the Earth at the equator. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”. There’s no road between them: the straight line crosses 2,463 mi of sea, 45% of the way.

From Los Angeles, London lies to the northeast (bearing 34°), and from London, Los Angeles lies to the northwest. The straight line reaches London on a bearing of 132°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (98° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (79°, to the east), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 6,063 miles (9,758 km), 609 mi more (11% longer). That’s why long routes don’t look “straight” on a map: the curve is the short way.

What the route flies over

Under the straight line there are 2,463 mi of sea (45%) and 2,991 mi of land. In order, from Los Angeles: 1,326 mi over the United States, 1,118 mi over Canada, 255 mi over Greenland, and 276 mi over the United Kingdom.

The straight line climbs to 62.4° N (at 62.4113° N, 48.6597° W), 10.9° farther north than London: on a sphere that’s the short way, even if it looks like a detour on a flat map. Planes don’t follow the line exactly: they fly along airways, chase tailwinds and avoid closed airspace, but on long flights they stay close to it.

Halfway between Los Angeles and London

Halfway along the straight line, 2,727 miles (4,388 km) from each city, is the point 60.3267° N, 72.4817° W. It falls in Canada, far from anywhere: the nearest town is Puvirnituq (Quebec, Canada, pop. 2,129), 166 mi away.

Time difference and flight

A direct flight would take about 11 hr 30 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 8,777 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight. Westbound flights usually take a little longer than eastbound ones because of high-altitude winds (the jet stream).

London is 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year (United Kingdom Time versus Pacific Time): when it’s 12:00 in Los Angeles, it’s 20:00 in London.

With that flight time, if you leave Los Angeles at 10:00, you land in London around 5:30 the next day (London time).

The two cities

London is 17.5° farther north than Los Angeles and 118.1° farther east. Los Angeles has 3.9 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025) and London 9.0 million people (GeoNames).