Air Miles Calculator
Type two airport codes and this air miles calculator gives the shortest distance between them over the Earth's surface, in statute miles, kilometers and nautical miles, for a nonstop flight or a trip with connections.
Flight distance
- Flight distance Shortest path over the WGS84 ellipsoid, by Vincenty's formula.
- 3,452 mi
- Statute miles
- 3,452 mi
- Kilometers
- 5,555 km
- Nautical miles 1 nautical mile is exactly 1,852 meters, the unit pilots and air traffic control use.
- 2,999 nmi
- Great circle on a sphere Haversine formula on a sphere of radius 6,371.0088 km, the figure many distance tables quote.
- 3,442 mi
- Ellipsoid minus sphere The Earth is slightly flattened at the poles, so the two methods differ by up to about half a percent.
- +9.25 mi (+0.27%)
- Heading at departure True bearing leaving JFK. A great circle changes heading as it goes: it arrives at LHR on 108° (east).
- 51° (northeast)
- Farthest north on the way Both airports are farther south (JFK 40.6°N, LHR 51.5°N). The shortest path bows toward the pole, which is why it draws as a curve on a flat map.
- 53.7°N
- From JFK
- John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, US
- To LHR
- London Heathrow Airport, London, GB
- Airport positions are OurAirports' reference points for 3,244 airports with scheduled flights. An aircraft's actual track is longer than the shortest path: airways, winds and air traffic control all add distance.
How the Air Miles Calculator works
Air miles, in the sense this calculator uses, are distance flown: the length of the shortest path between two airports over the surface of the Earth. Type two IATA codes and it measures that path on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the same model of the Earth that GPS uses. Many frequent flyer programs that award miles by distance start from exactly this kind of airport-to-airport figure, though each program's own distance table and rules decide what it actually credits.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles by about 1 part in 298. The shortest path on that shape is a geodesic, and this flight distance calculator finds it with Vincenty's inverse formula, an iterative method accurate to well under a millimeter. New York JFK to London Heathrow comes out at 3,452 miles, or 5,555 km. The simpler great-circle formula, which treats the Earth as a sphere of radius 6,371 km, gives 3,442 miles for the same pair. That 9-mile gap, about 0.27%, is why two distance tools can disagree slightly and both be doing their sums right. Very rarely Vincenty's method fails to settle, for two points almost exactly opposite each other on the globe, and the calculator then falls back to the sphere and says so.
Both figures are the minimum distance, and the route actually flown is longer. Real flights follow airways and departure and arrival procedures, detour around weather and busy airspace, and pick tracks that ride tailwinds or dodge headwinds. A flight tracker's distance flown is usually longer than the great circle for those reasons.
The shortest route looks curved on most maps because they flatten the globe so that lines of latitude are straight and parallel. A great circle between two mid-latitude airports bows toward the pole, and on such a map the bow is the curve. JFK to Heathrow reaches 53.7°N on the way, north of London's 51.5°N. JFK to Tokyo Narita reaches 69.6°N, even though both airports are below 41°N.
A statute mile is 1,609.344 meters, the mile on road signs. A nautical mile is exactly 1,852 meters, about 1.15078 statute miles, and began as one minute of latitude. Pilots, air traffic control and sailors work in nautical miles, and a knot is one nautical mile per hour. JFK to Heathrow is 2,999 nautical miles.
For a trip with connections, add up to three stops between the two airports and the calculator measures each leg, totals them, and shows how much farther the connection is than flying nonstop.
Air Miles Calculator FAQ
How far is it from New York JFK to London Heathrow?
3,452 statute miles, 5,555 km or 2,999 nautical miles along the shortest path on the WGS84 ellipsoid. On a sphere the great-circle figure is 3,442 miles. The track a flight actually follows is longer than either.
Are these the same air miles that frequent flyer programs give?
They measure the same thing, the distance between the two airports, and programs that credit miles by distance start from that kind of figure. Each program uses its own distance table and its own rules, so what lands in an account can differ from the figure here.
Why does a flight tracker show a longer distance than this?
This calculator gives the shortest possible path. Aircraft fly airways and published departure and arrival routes, go around weather and restricted airspace, and choose tracks for the winds, so the distance actually flown is longer.
Why does the shortest flight path look curved on a map?
On a sphere the shortest path between two cities in the same hemisphere bows toward the pole. A flat map with straight lines of latitude draws that bow as a curve. LAX to JFK is 2,475 miles and bows only a little, to 40.8°N; JFK to Narita bows all the way to 69.6°N.
What is the difference between a nautical mile and a statute mile?
A statute mile is 1,609.344 meters. A nautical mile is exactly 1,852 meters, about 1.15078 statute miles, and is the unit of aviation and shipping. Speeds in those fields are in knots, nautical miles per hour.
What is an air mile in trucking?
FMCSA's hours-of-service guidance treats an air mile as a nautical mile, so the 150 air-mile radius in the short-haul exception is about 172.6 statute miles. Choose nautical miles in this calculator to measure in those units.
Can it estimate how long the flight takes?
Only as an assumption. Tick the estimate box and set an average speed; the calculator divides the distance by it. At an assumed 500 mph, JFK to Heathrow is 6 h 54 min. Real schedules add taxiing, climb and descent, and winds make the same route faster one way than the other.