Mumbai to London Flight Route (BOM-LHR): Which Way It Flies, and Why Air India, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Take Three Different Paths
Watch the Mumbai to London flight route on a tracking site for a few nights and you will see something odd: three airlines flying the same 4,482-mile city pair in three different directions. Air India curves north through Saudi Arabia and Turkey. British Airways hugs the south, over Oman, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Virgin Atlantic goes over Pakistan and then swings around Iran by way of the Caucasus. None flies the straight line, and none flies the same detour.
This post is part of our which-way-it-flies series, alongside pairs like [Shanghai to Chicago](/blog/shanghai-to-chicago-flight-route-pvg-ord-which-way-it-flies-russia-north-korea-pacific). Routing data comes from [flightpaths.com's BOM-LHR page](https://flightpaths.com/BOM-LHR), whose November 2026 update records 30 flights between 2 September and 5 October 2026 (5,140 data points); the Pakistan ban from [Gulf News](https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/pakistan-extends-airspace-ban-on-indian-aircraft-until-november-24-1.500714891). Airspace minutes below are averages across each airline's recorded flights, not a promise about tonight.
The straight line vs the real routes
The great-circle distance from Mumbai (BOM) to London Heathrow (LHR) is 4,482 miles, on a line running north-west across Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, then over Turkey and central Europe. In November 2026 nobody flies it: two of those countries are off limits to almost everyone, and the third is closed to the Indian carrier.
The 30 recorded flights ranged from 4,779 to 5,283 miles. By airline, the averages were Air India 5,005 miles, British Airways 4,812 and Virgin Atlantic 4,818. The nonstop operators are Air India (AI131, AI129 and AI163, on 787s and 777s), British Airways (BA134, BA198 and BA138) and Virgin Atlantic (VS355 and VS359). Across all 30 flights, Pakistan appeared in only 7, and Iran and Afghanistan in none; that one fact explains most of what follows.
Air India: the Saudi-Turkey arc (and why Pakistan is off the table)
Air India cannot enter Pakistani airspace. Gulf News reported on 18 October 2026 that the Pakistan Airports Authority had extended its ban on Indian aircraft, covering Indian-registered aircraft, aircraft owned, operated or leased by Indian airlines, and military aircraft, in both the Karachi and Lahore flight information regions, until 04:59 local time on 24 November 2026. The ban was first imposed on 23 April 2025 and has been extended periodically since; India closed its own airspace to Pakistani airlines on 30 April 2025. Background is in our post on the [Pakistan airspace closure for Indian airlines](/blog/pakistan-airspace-closure-indian-airlines-september-2026).
With Pakistan closed and Iran avoided, the only way west is south-west first. Air India's recorded flights spent, on average, 226 minutes over water, mostly the Arabian Sea, then 7 minutes over the United Arab Emirates, 86 over Saudi Arabia, 1 over Jordan and 45 over Turkey. From Turkey the track crosses the Black Sea or the Balkans into central Europe: Bulgaria 18 minutes, Romania 33, Hungary 23, Austria 12, Czech Republic 15, Germany 28, the Netherlands 10 and the United Kingdom 18.
At 5,005 miles, Air India's average route is the longest of the three, about 520 miles over the great circle.
British Airways: the southern corridor over Oman, Saudi Arabia and Egypt
British Airways has no Pakistan ban to deal with, but it stays out of Iranian airspace like the other European carriers, and its planners have chosen the opposite answer to Air India's: south, then the Mediterranean.
The averages: 297 minutes over water, 20 over Oman, 71 over Saudi Arabia, 34 over Egypt, then across the eastern Mediterranean to Greece (23 minutes), Albania (9), Croatia (2), Italy (15), Switzerland (15), France (36) and the United Kingdom (15). BA's Mumbai service is a textbook example of the [southern corridor](/blog/southern-corridor-egypt-saudi-arabia-flight-routes).
At 4,812 miles on average, about 330 miles over the great circle, it is the shortest of the three. The southern track swaps the Turkey-Balkans overland leg for long water legs, which is why BA's over-water time is the highest in the set.
Virgin Atlantic: over Pakistan, then around Iran via the Caucasus
Virgin Atlantic is the only one of the three that uses Pakistani airspace. Its recorded flights averaged 26 minutes over India and 56 over Pakistan, then 18 over Azerbaijan and 7 over Georgia, before the Black Sea region and central Europe: Romania 43 minutes, Hungary 24, Austria 16, Germany 39, Belgium 7, the Netherlands 3 and the United Kingdom 27.
From Pakistan, the direct line to Europe runs across Iran. Virgin's track bends north around it, over the Caspian region and the Caucasus states of Azerbaijan and Georgia, then into central Europe: the northern mirror image of BA's southern route.
The result is a 4,818-mile average, almost identical to BA's and roughly 340 miles over the great circle. The 7 Pakistan crossings in the sample are Virgin's: the Pakistani ban applies to Indian aircraft, not to a British carrier.
What this costs in time and fuel
We do not publish fuel-cost figures for individual flights. What the distance data supports is a relative statement: against a 4,482-mile great circle, the recorded Mumbai-London routes added roughly 300 to 800 extra miles, from the shortest flight at 4,779 miles to the longest at 5,283, with BA and Virgin near the bottom of that range and Air India in the middle.
For the airlines that means more fuel, less payload margin and a planning job that changes as NOTAMs change; the 500-mile spread between the longest and shortest recorded flights shows how much the picture moves week to week.
How to check which way your flight will go tonight
Averages show the pattern, not what the dispatcher filed an hour ago. To find out which way your Mumbai to London flight will go:
- Look up your flight number (AI131, BA134, VS355 and so on) on a tracking site and open the last week of tracks. Routes are sticky from night to night unless something has changed.
- Check the operating airline, not the ticket. A codeshare operated by Air India flies Air India's route and is bound by the Pakistan ban.
- Watch the dates. The current Pakistan extension runs to 24 November 2026; what happens around then is the first thing that could change Air India's track.
- Read the map the right way. Our guide on [how to read a flight map and recognise a healthy route](/blog/how-to-read-a-flight-map-healthy-route) explains why a track that bends around a country is the system working.
Is the Mumbai-London route safe?
Yes, in the sense that matters: all three airlines avoid the airspace their regulators and their own risk teams tell them to avoid, and Iran and Afghanistan appear in none of the 30 recorded flights. European regulators' conflict-zone bulletins and several national NOTAMs keep most European and Indian carriers out of Iranian airspace; the detours above are the direct consequence. For the current state of the Tehran FIR, see our [Iran airspace open-or-closed November 2026 update](/blog/iran-airspace-open-or-closed-november-2026-update).
Pakistan is the question people ask about most. Overflight of Pakistan by non-Indian carriers is routine and has been throughout the India-Pakistan ban; the restriction is a bilateral measure aimed at each other's aircraft, not a conflict-zone warning to the rest of the world.
The honest caveats are about disruption, not danger. A route that depends on Saudi, Egyptian, Turkish or Caucasus airspace is exposed to events there, and a sudden closure on the arc means a longer flight, a fuel stop or a cancellation, not a route through Iran. Our piece on [Europe to India routes without Iranian airspace](/blog/europe-to-india-routes-without-iranian-airspace) covers those fallbacks.
Frequently asked questions
Does Air India fly over Pakistan to London?
No. Indian aircraft have been banned from Pakistani airspace since 23 April 2025, with the latest extension running to 24 November 2026. Air India's Mumbai-London flights head out over the Arabian Sea to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, then north through Turkey.
Does British Airways fly over Iran from Mumbai?
No. In the recorded flights BA routes south over Oman, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, then across the Mediterranean to Greece, Italy and France. Iran appears on none of them.
Why is Virgin Atlantic's route different from British Airways' route?
Both avoid Iran, but Virgin goes north of it, over Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and BA goes south, over the Gulf states, Egypt and the Mediterranean. Their average distances, 4,818 and 4,812 miles, are almost the same, so the choice is about schedule, winds and planning preference.
Sources
- [flightpaths.com, Mumbai (BOM) to London Heathrow (LHR) route data](https://flightpaths.com/BOM-LHR), data update November 2026: 30 flights, 2 September to 5 October 2026, 5,140 data points.
- [Gulf News, 18 October 2026: Pakistan extends airspace ban on Indian aircraft until November 24](https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/pakistan-extends-airspace-ban-on-indian-aircraft-until-november-24-1.500714891).