Daytime Flights To Europe From The U.S., Canada and Bermuda

Originally published December 24, 2022

Most of the flights from the U.S. (north American continent) to Europe depart at night. However, there are some airlines that operate what are called daytime flights. Let me answer some questions about transatlantic flights and then we can take a look at these daytime flights to Europe.

Why Are Transatlantic Flights Always At Night? (Overnight Flights To Europe)

There are several reasons for this:

1. Landing slots. These are controlled by the airports and airlines have to bid for them. These are extremely hard to come by and expensive.
2. Landings are only allowed certain times of the day. So if the airlines leave too early they would arrive during the night and there would be no services to accommodate them such as trains, taxis, etc. Plus the noise they make would wake up the locals and that’s not allowed. Some airports do not allow landings before 6a and after 10p.
3. Onward flight connections; see below for more on this
4. It’s also making business travel convenient. As an example, you can work all day then take an overnight flight to Europe and arrive the next morning. If you fly in business class, you could get some rest on the flight and be ready to go when you arrive by using the airport arrival lounges.

Onward Flight Connections from Europe

Having daytime flights to Europe limits the number of same day European connections you can have once you arrive in London-Heathrow. But if you overnight at the airport hotel, you can get onward flight connections first thing in the morning.

What time do I arrive when I take daytime flights to Europe?

As shown below, the day flights arrive late at night, usually between 7p and 11p. This gives you plenty of time to get a good night’s rest and be ready for the next morning’s meetings or activities. Unless you’re a night owl and want to go see London by night :-).

What Cities Have Daytime Flights To Europe From The U.S.?

Boston, MA (BOS) To Keflavik, Iceland (KEF)

Icelandair (FI)

• FI634 departs  at 12:35p and arrives at 9:50p daily on a Boeing 757-200 with a flight time of 5h 15m

Boston, MA (BOS) To London-Heathrow (LHR)

British Airways (BA)

• BA238 departs  at 7:05a/7:25a and arrives at 6:35p/6:55p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 6h 30m

Boston, MA (BOS) to Terceira, Azores (TER)

Azores Airlines (S4)

• S4 234 departs  at 2:15p and arrives at 11:20p, Fridays only, on a Airbus A330 with a flight time of 5h 05m operated by Plus Ultra Líneas Aeréas S.A.

Chicago-O’Hare, IL (ORD) to London-Heathrow (LHR)

American Airlines (AA)

• AA90 departs at 8:29a and arrives at 10:10p daily on a Boeing 787-9 with a flight time of 7h 41m

New York-JFK (JFK) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST)

Turkish Airlines (TK)

• TK112 departs at 6:50a and arrives at 11:45p daily except Sundays, on a Airbus A330-300 with a flight time of 9h 50m

New York-JFK (JFK) to Keflavik, Iceland (KEF)

Icelandair (FI)

• FI612 departs  at 12:55p and arrives at 10:50p daily on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with a flight time of 5h 55m

New York-JFK (JFK) to London-Heathrow (LHR)

American Airlines (AA)

• AA142 departs at 9:25a and arrives at 9:40p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 7h 15m

British Airways (BA)

• BA178 departs at 7:55a and arrives at 7:35p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 6h 40m

jetBlue Airways (B6)

• B61107 departs at 8:20a and arrives at 8:45p daily on an Airbus A321neo with a flight time of 7h 25m

Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS)

• VS26 departs at 8:00a and arrives at 8:05p daily on an Airbus A330-300 with a flight time of 7h 05m

Newark, NJ (EWR) to London-Heathrow (LHR)

British Airways (BA)

• BA180 departs at 7:55a and arrives at 7:50p daily on a Boeing 787-10 with a flight time of 6h 55m

United Airlines (UA)

• UA934 departs at 8:45a and arrives at 8:40p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 6h 55m

Washington-Dulles, VA (IAD) to London-Heathrow (LHR)

United Airlines (UA)

• UA122 departs at 8:25a and arrives at 8:55p daily on a Boeing 767-300ER with a flight time of 7h 30m

What Time Is The Last Flight From London To The U.S.?

To make these daytime flights to London work, they have a paired flight that leaves London very late at night, since by the time it arrives, it would be too late to return. As a result, the airplane usually overnights; i.e. stays at the airport and leaves the next morning.

For someone flying for business, they are perfect as you can attend meetings all day and then take the last flight home. As a non-rev, you can have fun all day and then take the last flight back. These flights are actually perfect for day trips as the return flight and you can take an overnight flight in.

Let’s take a look at the return flights:

London-Heathrow (LHR) To Boston, MA (BOS)

British Airways (BA)

• BA 239 departs  at 8:10p and arrives at 9:45p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 7h 20m

London-Heathrow (LHR) To New York-JFK (JFK)

American Airlines (AA)

• AA141 departs at 7:55p and arrives at 10:49p daily except Saturdays, on a Boeing 777-200 with a flight time of 7h 45m

British Airways (BA)

• BA183 departs at 7:05p and arrives at 9:50p daily on a Boeing 777-200ER with a flight time of 7h 45m

Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS)

• VS25 departs at 8:15p and arrives at 11:20p daily on an Airbus A330-300  with a flight time of 8h 05m

London-Heathrow (LHR) To Newark, NJ (EWR)

British Airways (BA)

• BA181 departs at 7:10p and arrives at 10:00p four times a week on a Boeing 787-10 with a flight time of 7h 50m

United Airlines (UA)

• UA921 departs at 6:00p and arrives at 9:10p daily on a Boeing 767-300 with a flight time of 8h 10m

Daytime Flights To Europe From Canada

There are a few flights to Europe from Canada as well. Let’s take a look.

Halifax, NS Canada (YHZ) to London-Heathrow (LHR)

Air Canada (AC)

• AC868 departs at 11:00a and arrives at 9:00p daily on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with a flight time of 6h 00m

Montreal, QB Canada (YUL) to Ponta Delgada, Azores (PDL)

Azores Airlines (S4)

• S4 326 departs  at 12:10p and arrives at 8:55p, Tuesdays only, on a Boeing 777-200 with a flight time of 4h 45m operated by Plus Ultra Líneas Aeréas S.A.

Montreal, QB Canada (YUL) to Terceira, Azores (TER)

Azores Airlines (S4)

• S4 338 departs  at 11:25a and arrives at 8:20p, Saturdays only, on a Airbus A330 with a flight time of 4h 55m operated by Plus Ultra Líneas Aeréas S.A.

Toronto, ON Canada (YYZ) to Terceira, Azores (TER)

Azores Airlines (S4)

• S4 334 departs  at 1:25p and arrives at 11:20p, Sundays only, on a Airbus A330 with a flight time of 5h 55m operated by Plus Ultra Líneas Aeréas S.A.

Daytime Flights To Europe From Bermuda

And just one more since Bermuda is on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Hamilton, Bermuda (BDA) to Ponta Delgada, Azores (PDL)

Azores Airlines (S4)

• S4 248 departs  at 11:25a and arrives at 7:10p, Tuesdays only, on a Airbus A321neo with a flight time of 4h 45m

So how do you book these flights? You can book directly with the airlines or you can use an online travel agency such as the two shown below.

SkyScanner

Tailor your search for “Directs Only” (this is their terminology for nonstop flights and then sort by Departure time. Click here to book using Skyscanner.

Google Flights

You can sort by Departure Time so you can see the daytime flights first. Click on the one you want and then book on the airline’s website. remember to add you r frequent flyer number so you can get credit.

Have you flown any of these flights? Or another daytime flight to Europe?

Remember you can check flight schedules for these daytime flights to Europe here.

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