Great-circle route LHR ↔ SAN. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LHR → SAN London to San Diego |
14/wk | Daily | British Airways |
| SAN → LHR San Diego to London |
14/wk | Daily | British Airways |
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.
In 2025, airlines reported 234,846 passengers on 1,063 flights between LHR and SAN — about 644 a day — filling 87% of the 268,989 seats flown. British Airways Plc carried the most passengers (100%).
Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports — actual airline-reported traffic, scheduled service only, both directions combined. Cargo and charter flights excluded.
British Airways is the only airline flying the LHR–SAN nonstop.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 777-200 / 200ER Passenger, Boeing 777-300ER Passenger, Boeing 777, Boeing 777-300ER.
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 London Heathrow Airport and San Diego International Airport is 5,472 miles, or 8,806 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 5,472 mi |
| Kilometres | 8,806 km |
| Nautical miles | 4,755 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. British Airways flies the route nonstop, with about 28 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 11h 02m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 5,472-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 14 a week from London to San Diego and 14 a week from San Diego to London, from our most recent schedule sample.
British Airways.
In 2025, airlines reported 234,846 passengers on 1,063 scheduled flights between LHR and SAN — about 644 a day — filling 87% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 777-200 / 200ER Passenger, Boeing 777-300ER Passenger, Boeing 777, Boeing 777-300ER. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
