London Frankfurt
Heathrow to Frankfurt Main runs over 20 times a day between Lufthansa and British Airways. You do not plan this flight. You book the next departure that works.
Book whichever is cheaper. Both airlines serve Frankfurt Main, and the schedule is dense enough that departure time matters more than carrier. Neither cabin stands out on a 100-minute flight.
If you work in the City or near Canary Wharf, look at Air Dolomiti out of London City Airport. It flies to Frankfurt Main daily on an Embraer 190. Air Dolomiti is a Lufthansa Group regional carrier, bookable through Lufthansa with Miles & More earning, and it saves you the trip to Heathrow. London City is a ten-minute taxi from Bank station.
Frankfurt Main has a train station in the terminal. Follow the signs from your gate to the S-Bahn and you are in the city center in 12 minutes.
Rail from London means Eurostar to Brussels and a connecting train onward. With 20 daily nonstops, the flight wins on this route.
Ryanair sells a "London to Frankfurt" flight from Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn. Frankfurt Hahn is 120 kilometers west of central Frankfurt. You land in a rural stretch of the Hunsruck hills and face a two-hour bus ride to reach the city. Unless your destination is somewhere in western Rhineland-Palatinate, this is not a Frankfurt flight. Search engines list it under Frankfurt because the airport has the word in its name.
Have a specific need? Use the decision guide below to filter by your airline, where you live, lounges, or where you're staying in Frankfurt.
Pick What Matters to You
Best pair by where you're coming from
Best pair by where you're staying in Frankfurt
Which pair your airline flies nonstop
| Airline | LHR–FRA | LCY–FRA | STN–HHN | LGW–FRA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Airways | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Air VIA | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Condor | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Lufthansa | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Ryanair | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Air Dolomiti | — | ✓ | — | — |
Ranked by on-time performance
Lounge access by airport and terminal
Ranked by flights per week
Getting to the airport
Red-eye vs daytime departures
Premium cabin options
Connecting through London from a domestic flight
Heathrow to Frankfurt runs roughly every 45 minutes on two carriers, so connecting through a third city adds hours to what is already a 90-minute flight. The one scenario where a connection makes sense: you are routing through Frankfurt as a hub to reach a smaller German or European city, and the Lufthansa hub at Frankfurt Main has direct onward flights to most of them.
London & Frankfurt Airport Profiles
Each airport has a personality. Terminal quality, transit access, lounge scene, and crowd levels vary dramatically — sometimes more than the flight itself.
London Metro
Heathrow has four active terminals and your airline determines which one you use. Terminal 5 is British Airways territory, the newest and most polished. Terminal 2, the Queen's Terminal, handles Star Alliance carriers. Terminal 3 has Virgin Atlantic and several US carriers. Terminal 4 is smaller and serves a mix of international airlines.
The terminals are not walkable between each other. Free inter-terminal transfers run on the Elizabeth Line or Heathrow Express between T2/T3 (which share a central area) and T5. T4 requires a separate bus. Build in 60 minutes if you need to change terminals for a connection.
Immigration at 6 to 8 AM is slow. The morning wave of transatlantic red-eyes all land in the same window, and queues back up. E-gates work for US passport holders, which helps, but the volume is real. The airport is well-signed and functional, not beautiful. Shopping is extensive if you clear customs early.
Gatwick has two terminals, North and South, connected by a free shuttle train that takes about two minutes. South Terminal is the larger of the two and handles most scheduled long-haul flights. North Terminal serves a mix of short-haul and charter carriers.
The airport is smaller than Heathrow and easier to navigate. Security queues are generally shorter except during summer holiday peaks. The walk from security to gates in South Terminal is short. The overall experience is less stressful than Heathrow, which is part of the appeal for budget travelers.
Gatwick sits 30 miles south of central London, roughly twice the distance of Heathrow. The Gatwick Express runs to Victoria in 30 minutes, which is competitive, but Victoria is not as well connected to east London as Paddington.
London City Airport is the smallest of London's six airports, sitting in the Royal Docks between Canary Wharf and the Thames Barrier. The terminal is compact: one security area leads to a small departures lounge with views of the runway. You can arrive 30 minutes before a domestic flight and make it comfortably.
The runway is short, which limits the airport to smaller aircraft types. The approach is steep, which some passengers notice on landing. The upside of the small scale: no long walks to gates, no terminal train, no maze of corridors. A small selection of restaurants and shops sits airside.
Stansted is a single-terminal airport designed by Norman Foster, and the building itself is worth noticing. The roof structure is a clean white canopy held up by trees of steel columns. It opened in 1991 and still looks modern. The terminal is compact and navigation is straightforward.
Stansted is a budget carrier hub. Ryanair dominates the departure boards. Long-haul service is limited. Most traffic is European short-haul on budget carriers. The airport does one thing well: move large numbers of passengers through a simple layout with short walking distances.
It sits 40 miles northeast of central London, the farthest of the four London airports from the city. The Stansted Express runs to Liverpool Street in 47 minutes, which is reasonable, but you are starting from much farther out.
Frankfurt Metro
Two terminals connected by the SkyLine people mover, which takes about two minutes between them. Terminal 1 is the older and larger building, split into halls A, B, and C. Terminal 2 has halls D and E. Walking distances in Terminal 1 can be long, particularly from the far end of the C gates to the main hall.
The airport sits 12 kilometres southwest of central Frankfurt. An S-Bahn station and a long-distance train station sit underneath Terminal 1, connecting to the city and to other German cities by rail without leaving the airport complex.
Terminal 1 has shops and restaurants past security in all major halls. Terminal 2 is smaller and quieter with fewer options. Security wait times vary by time of day and concourse.
A small airport on a former military airbase, about 120 kilometres west of Frankfurt in the Hunsruck hills. Despite the name, Frankfurt-Hahn has no geographic or operational connection to Frankfurt Airport. It sits closer to the Mosel Valley than to any major city.
The terminal is a single building with limited facilities. Check-in, security, and gates are all within a short walk. A few shops and a cafe operate past security, but options are minimal.
Which Airlines Fly Which Pairs
British Airways serve both LHR and LCY to FRA — airport flexibility on the London side.
Not all planes are the same size. The aircraft type below each checkmark tells you whether you are getting a widebody (777, 787, A350) with wider seats and a quieter ride, or a narrowbody (737, A321) with a single aisle. On flights over five hours, the difference is significant.
A319, A321neo
E190
E190
E190
737-800
A321neo
A321neo