Great-circle route IST ↔ LHR. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
Frequencies below are per direction, from our most recent schedule sample.
| Direction | Frequency | Days | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| IST → LHR Istanbul to London |
62/wk | Daily | British Airways, Turkish Airlines |
| LHR → IST London to Istanbul |
62/wk | Daily | British Airways, Turkish Airlines |
Where a direction shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
2 airlines fly the IST–LHR nonstop, including British Airways, Turkish Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Airbus A330-300, Airbus A320 NEO, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-300ER 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 between Istanbul Airport and London Heathrow Airport is 1,546 miles, or 2,488 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,546 mi |
| Kilometres | 2,488 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,343 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 2 airlines fly the route nonstop, with about 124 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 3h 36m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,546-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.
About 62 a week from Istanbul to London and 62 a week from London to Istanbul, from our most recent schedule sample.
British Airways, Turkish Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Airbus A330-300, Airbus A320 NEO, Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-300ER. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
