Distance from UK to Australia: How far is Australia from the UK?

The distance from the UK to Australia depends on which Australian city you pick. The London to Sydney distance is 16,993km. The London to Darwin distance is 13,854km.

The distance from the UK to Australia is predictably huge. Australia is on the other side of the world, albeit not exactly on the other side – the precise opposite is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. It still takes the best part of a day to get there by plane, however.

But if you’re trying to work of the UK to Australia distance, you need to define where in the UK and – particularly – where in Australia.

Distance from UK to Australia: London to Sydney or Canberra

So, how far is Australia from the UK if we use the capital cities – London and Canberra. According to Distance.to, which calculates the shortest possible route between two points on the earth, the London to Canberra distance is 16,993km. That’s 10,559 miles in old money.

Of course, most people travelling to Australia don’t fly into Canberra. Sydney is the biggest entry point, and the distance from the UK to Australia when flying to Sydney is… 16,993km. It’s exactly the same, which may come as a surprise given Sydney is further east than Canberra. It is also further north, however, and that makes the difference.

Both Canberra and Sydney are in eastern Australia, however. There are entry points further west that are considerably closer to the UK.

Distance from UK to Australia: London to Perth or Darwin

The direct Qantas flights from London landed in Perth in Western Australia pre-Covid, and were switched to Darwin in the Northern Territory during the pandemic.

So how far is Australia from the UK if flying into Perth or Darwin? Well, the distance from the UK to Australia when flying from London to Perth is 14,481km. The London to Darwin distance is 13,854km.

None of the Australian cities are close to the UK, but some are much closer than others…