Great-circle route LHR ↔ SFO. 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 → SFO London to San Francisco |
49/wk | Daily | British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways |
| SFO → LHR San Francisco to London |
49/wk | Daily | British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic 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 1,030,369 passengers on 4,280 flights between LHR and SFO — about 2,824 a day — filling 79% of the 1,306,381 seats flown. British Airways Plc carried the most passengers (44%).
Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports — actual airline-reported traffic, scheduled service only, both directions combined. Cargo and charter flights excluded.
3 airlines fly the LHR–SFO nonstop, including British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 787-9, Airbus A380-800, Airbus A350-1000, Boeing 777-300ER Passenger and 2 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 London Heathrow Airport and San Francisco International Airport is 5,354 miles, or 8,616 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 5,354 mi |
| Kilometres | 8,616 km |
| Nautical miles | 4,652 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 3 airlines fly the route nonstop, with about 98 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 10h 48m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 5,354-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 49 a week from London to San Francisco and 49 a week from San Francisco to London, from our most recent schedule sample.
British Airways, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways.
In 2025, airlines reported 1,030,369 passengers on 4,280 scheduled flights between LHR and SFO — about 2,824 a day — filling 79% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 787-9, Airbus A380-800, Airbus A350-1000, Boeing 777-300ER Passenger. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
