How Long Is A Flight To Australia From The UK?
This article contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps me to keep my site up and running! Read my disclaimer for more information.
Visiting Australia is on the bucket list of millions of people and for good reason, it’s an extraordinary country.
If you are from the UK like me, you might wonder how long a flight to Australia from the UK takes.
Luckily for you, as a full-time traveller, I have a complete guide to answer your burning question along with more information about flying from the UK to Down Under.
How Long Flight to Australia from the UK?
A flight to Australia from the UK is one of the longest flights you can take from the UK, it’s an incredibly long flight.
It can take anywhere from about 16 hours to anywhere near 30 hours. I would say a fair average would be about 20-22 hours. Of course, the time depends on whether you fly direct or whether you take a layover somewhere in between.
Flights with layovers to Australia are much cheaper than direct flights. Particularly those with multiple stops. Some people take 3 flights to reach Australia from the UK.
The flight times can also vary depending on the time of year, as this affects which direction the wind blows amongst other factors.
Generally speaking, your flight time depends on: the airline, route, time of year, and which airport you are flying into. Australia has many international airports such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Depending on which you fly to, it could add a few hours to your journey.
To summarise, a flight will take an average of 20-22 hours to reach Australia from the UK, including the stopover time. So it’s a pretty long time to travel! Make sure you have plenty of sleep beforehand as you won’t want to sleep too much on the plane unless you fly during the night Australia time. You need to adjust to the new timezone.
Oh and also- many people think Australia is part of the UK…it’s not.
Can You Get A Direct Flight From The UK to Australia?
Yes, it is possible to get a direct flight from the UK to London.
Qantas fly from London Heathrow direct to Perth. It takes around 16 and a half hours but costs about £1500+ for return flights. Direct flights are a lot more expensive than those with layovers.
To find the cheapest flights, I recommend using SkyScanner. It’s a flight search engine which you can use to find the best prices for the dates you want to travel. If you are flexible with your dates, you can often find even better prices.
➡️Use SkyScanner to find the best prices for your flights to Australia or anywhere else around the world you plan to fly to.
This applies to non-direct flights too. Using SkyScanner you can put together the cheapest route to save money on your flights. It’s worth saying that the longer the travel takes, the cheaper it is. And with that, let’s get into some options for flying from the UK to Australia.
UK To Australia Flight Options
There are lots of flight options to get from the UK to Australia by taking a layover. Taking a layover makes a flight much cheaper and therefore more affordable.
Most of these are interchangeable. So you can mix and match your stopover with your end destination.
Here are some options you can take to reach Australia from the UK:
London Heathrow – Kuala Lumpur – Perth
All of these leave from London Heathrow, it’s the easiest way to get from the UK. London Heathrow to Perth via Kuala Lumpur takes just under 21 hours. But it’s definitely one of the cheapest options. You can expect a return flight to cost about £800-900 if you use SkyScanner.
London Heathrow – Singapore – Perth
As you may begin to notice, Southeast Asia is a popular place for layovers to Australia since it is between the UK and Australia. That’s why so many people who backpack Australia spend a few months backpacking Southeast Asia first. Heathrow to Singapore to Perth takes just over 20 hours but costs slightly more than Kuala Lumpur, at about £1200 for a return flight.
London Heathrow – Doha – Perth
Another popular stopover is Doha, which makes for a really great layover as the airport is top-class. Heathrow to Perth with a Doha layover is a slightly more expensive option but a quicker one, taking only 19 hours but costing about £1700 for a return.
London Heathrow – Dubai – Perth
A stopover in Dubai brings similar flight times and prices as Doha, but similarly, the quality of the experience will be extremely high again.
London Heathrow – Kuala Lumpur – Sydney
Your other option for flying into Australia is to have your connecting flight to Sydney rather than Perth. Once again, Kuala Lumpur is the cheapest option coming in at around £950-1000 for return flights. Usually, it takes about 25 hours though, as Sydney is on the east coast.
London Heathrow – Taipei – Sydney
Getting to Sydney has more or less the same layover options as Perth but there are a few extras which you can stopover at such as Taipei in Taiwan. Going from Heathrow to Sydney via Taipei takes about 26 hours and costs about £1200 for return flights.
London Heathrow – Ho Chi Minh City – Sydney
A final option for reaching Australia from the UK is to fly to Sydney from London Heathrow via Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. It’s the longest option on this list as it usually takes around 30 hours. But it is pretty cheap and costs about £1200 (return flights) also.
UK To Australia Flight Price
As you can see from the flight options above, flight price depends on which city you take a stopover in and how long the total journey is.
As I have said throughout this article, make sure to use SkyScanner to find the cheapest flights possible. If you can be flexible with your dates, you can find flights for much cheaper than if you have set dates.
Flights can vary from £800 to £3000 for return flights. If you can find the right dates as well as a good stopover, you can get to and from Australia for really cheap. It’s just a case of being patient and having the persistence to find the best price.
How long flight to Australia from UK: FAQ
Below are some questions related to “How long flight to Australia from UK?” along with my answers.
A direct flight from the UK to Australia takes just over 16 hours to get from London to Perth.
A flight to Australia from the UK can be anywhere from 16 hours to 30 hours depending on how long your stopover is or whether you get a direct flight or not. The average is about 20-22 hours.
Yes, a direct flight between London Heathrow and Perth exists with Qantas. The flight takes about 16 hours direct and is the only direct option between the UK and Australia.
A direct flight from London Heathrow to Perth takes about 16 hours. It is the only direct flight from the UK to Australia and it is with the airline Qantas.
How long flight to Australia from UK: Conclusion
And there you have it, a complete guide to “How long flight to Australia from UK?” along with other information about flying between the two countries.
The average time it takes is between 20-22 hours including stopovers. I definitely recommend taking stopovers as it makes the flights much cheaper.
Enjoy your trip to Australia, it’ll be the trip of a lifetime! 🙂
