Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,639 miles (or 9,076 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between O. R. Tambo International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between O. R. Tambo International Airport and London Heathrow Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB):

• The Central Terminal Building will boost capacity at the landside of the terminal in 3 levels, also allowing direct access from international and domestic terminals.
• The airport overtook Cairo International Airport in 1996 as the busiest airport in Africa and is the third-busiest airport in the Africa–Middle East region after Dubai International Airport and Doha International Airport.
• In addition to being known as "O. R. Tambo International Airport", another name for JNB is "Johannesburg International Airport".
• The closest airport to O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Rand Airport (QRA), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SW of JNB.
• The furthest airport from O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,979 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• On 10 January 2013 the airport's ICAO code was changed from FAJS to FAOR.
• O. R. Tambo International Airport handled 18,794,897 passengers last year.
• In November 2009 Air France announced the scheduled flights of their Airbus A380 into Johannesburg's O.R.
• South African Airways is headquartered in Airways Park on the grounds of O.
• Because of O. R. Tambo International Airport's high elevation of 5,558 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JNB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JNB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport was founded in 1952 as "Jan Smuts Airport", two years after his death, near the town of Kempton Park on the East Rand.
• O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) has 2 runways.

Facts about London Heathrow Airport (LHR):

• The furthest airport from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,875 miles (19,112 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• A trial of "noise relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with the existing paths which were spread out.
• The closest airport to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is RAF Northolt (NHT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of LHR.
• In 2005, a substantial redesign and redevelopment of the terminal saw the opening of the new Eastern Extension, doubling the size of the departure lounge and creating additional seating as well as retail space.
• Full body scanners are now used at the airport, and passengers who object to their use after being selected are not allowed to fly.
• Because of London Heathrow Airport's relatively low elevation of 83 feet, planes can take off or land at London Heathrow Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control then guide the aircraft to their final approach, merging aircraft from the four holds into a single stream of traffic, sometimes as close as 2.5 nautical miles apart.
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has 2 runways.