Flights San Francisco → London
SFO → LHR
Route overview
This flight route operates from San Francisco to London, with an average of 14 flights per year. The on-time performance is at 67%, and the mean delay duration is approximately 12.8 minutes. The aircraft used for this route include Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777 models, serving a destination airport that handles over 83 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The San Francisco (SFO) → London (LHR) route is operated by American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Iberia Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, United Airlines. Across 14 flights monitored in recent months, 67% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 13 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.00%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 15.6/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At London the average ATFM delay is 1.8 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to London: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) heads north-east for about 8,616 km, a flight time of roughly 11h 11m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the evening window: about 100% of SFO-LHR flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into London it is 1.8 min (atfm).
Across 14 tracked SFO-LHR flights, 67% left on time with an average delay of 13 min and a 0.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iberia Airlines (IB) | 86% | 17 min | 4.8% |
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 80% | 8 min | 1.8% |
| British Airways (BA) | 77% | 17 min | 2.4% |
| Lufthansa Cargo (LH) | 76% | 15 min | 7.1% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
Airlines operating SFO-LHR
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-LHR
On the San Francisco (SFO) -> London (LHR) route, on-time performance is 67% with an average delay of 13 minutes, based on 14 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-London is 0.00% across 14 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 6 airlines: American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Iberia Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at London, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
