Great-circle route STN → SAW. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
The flight time from London to Istanbul is approximately 3h 38m nonstop. The distance is 1,565 miles (2,519 km). There are about 26 nonstop flights from London to Istanbul per day.
That is a great-circle estimate, not a scheduled block time. An airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
| Route | Est. time | Distance | Frequency | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STN → SAW London Stansted Airport to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport |
3h 38m | 1,565 mi | 64/wk | Pegasus Airlines, Valuair |
| LHR → IST London Heathrow Airport to Istanbul Airport |
3h 36m | 1,546 mi | 62/wk | British Airways, Turkish Airlines |
| LGW → IST London Gatwick Airport to Istanbul Airport |
3h 34m | 1,529 mi | 30/wk | Air Bagan, Turkish Airlines |
| STN → IST London Stansted Airport to Istanbul Airport |
3h 33m | 1,526 mi | 15/wk | Turkish Airlines |
| LTN → IST London Luton Airport to Istanbul Airport |
3h 36m | 1,550 mi | 7/wk | Air Bagan |
| LGW → SAW London Gatwick Airport to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport |
3h 38m | 1,568 mi | 7/wk | Pegasus Airlines |
Frequencies come from our most recent schedule sample. Where a pairing shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
5 airlines fly nonstop from London to Istanbul, including Air Bagan, British Airways, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines and 1 more.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Airbus A321, Airbus A320, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 and 4 other types.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
On a long east–west route like this one the two directions do not take the same time. Aircraft flying eastbound ride the mid-latitude jet stream and typically arrive earlier than the westbound leg, which flies into it. The difference is commonly 30 to 90 minutes on transatlantic and transpacific flights, and it varies by season. The estimate above does not model wind — treat it as a midpoint and check the airline's own timetable for the block time on your date.
The distance from London to Istanbul is 1,565 miles, or 2,519 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,565 mi |
| Kilometres | 2,519 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,360 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 5 airlines fly it nonstop, with about 185 departures a week, across 6 airport pairings. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 3h 38m in the air on the STN–SAW nonstop. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,565-mile distance, not a scheduled block time — an airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
1,565 miles (2,519 km) great-circle between London Stansted Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport.
Air Bagan, British Airways, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Valuair.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Airbus A321, Airbus A320, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
STN to SAW, LHR to IST, LGW to IST, STN to IST, LTN to IST, LGW to SAW. Flight times differ slightly between them because the airports are not in the same place.
