Shortest transatlantic flight from Europe to somewhere, so that continental US can be reached by land (with possible ferry)

Question

I am trying to find a route from Helsinki, Finland to Washington, DC, USA so that the air time is minimized, as the person travelling is afraid of an air travel. Assume, visas are not a problem.

Basically, I am looking for a shortest non-stop transatlantic flight originating in Europe and landing somewhere, from where Washington, DC can be reached by land (with possible ferry).

It seems there are 2 possible routes:

• land/ferry to Iceland, then Keflavik -> (Greenland, ferry) -> Canada -> Land to US
• Land to London, then LHR -> Canada -> Land to US

Specific subquestions:

1. What is the absolute shortest flight time from KEF to any point in Canada?
2. What is the absolute shortest flight time from London to any point in Canada?
3. I was not able to find any regular transportation between points in Greenland and points in Canada. Did I miss something?
4. What are good points of embarkation in Canada? Halifax? St John's?

Any other possible routes I missed?

I am seeking a factual basis to decide between:

• investing in air-travel phobia therapy and attempting regular HEL->JFK
• travelling via cruise liner
• travelling via freight vessel
• attempting to minimize air travel time by covering some part by land.

However, this question's scope is limited to just minimizing air travel time.

TL;DR

1. The shortest flight would be either KEF->YHZ (Halifax) 4:30, seasonal
2. Second shortest (but much more easy accessible from Europe) is DUB->YYT (St John's) 4:55, seasonal

and thank everyone who contributed to the whole spectrum of the answers collected

Answer 1

Reykjavik to Halifax (Nova Scotia) is showing as 18:05 to 19:40 according to Icelandair's summer timetable, page 23.

That isn't really 1h35 minutes of course, thanks to time zones. The timetable shows Reykjavik on GMT while Halifax is on GMT-3 thanks to Daylight Savings.

So, 4 hours 35 minutes from Reykjavik to Halifax.

Edit : when I'm calling the airport Reykjavik I'm quoting the Icelandair brochure "From REYKJAVÍK KEF" - indeed Reykjavik's main airport is a few miles away at Keflavik but if Icelandair are happy to call it Reykjavik that's good enough for me.

And indeed I didn't cover the means of getting to Reykjavik : the obvious route is the Smyril Line, who run a weekly service from Denmark via the Faeroe Islands.

I can't comment on the Icelandic bus network though one commenter points out it may be fragmentary, and may need a taxi to get some joined-up transport going.

And after several days crossing the North Atlantic even on such a large and modern ship as the Norrona, and several hundred km on Iceland's roads, the actual flight will probably come as a blissful relief.

Answer 2

If flight time is truly of the highest consideration, then this blog details one person's travel around the world desiring the least possible flight time in doing so.

Three options are proposed, but I can't confirm whether they are still current:

1. Fly from Vladivostok (or Khabarovsk) to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, then get a flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anchorage, Alaska, with Yakutia (www.yakutia.aero), a Russian airline. It’s about a 3 hour flight and goes every Saturday from 11th July to 29th August as it’s a seasonal flight.

2. Travel from Vladivostok to Provideniya, the furthest airport towards the Bering Strait, from there, you can charter a plane from Bering Air, an Alaskan company.

3. You can walk across the Bering Strait when it is frozen solid, however, it’s about 53 miles of ice, after 800 miles of no roads

Perhaps it may be worth corresponding with the author to further investigate these options. I'm envious of someone who tries option 3!

Answer 3

St. John's seems like the best jumping-off point, as the easternmost major airport in North America. If having the shortest flight possible is really the goal, Air Canada has a flight from St. John's to London Heathrow, 5:05 eastbound, 5:50 westbound. In summer only, WestJet does St. John's to Dublin, 4:30 eastbound, 4:55 westbound. Here's information on the London flight and the Dublin flight. One can get from Dublin to mainland Europe by a combination of land and sea much more easily than one can get from Reykjavik to mainland Europe - see for example the seat61 guide to Ireland and to Iceland.

Answer 4

If you want to avoid flying entirely, you can. The Queen Mary 2 still sails between Southampton and New York or Fort Lauderdale about once a month. Prices start at about £1400 one way for a couple sharing a double cabin, which includes food. I would be surprised if you can find a cheaper way of crossing the Atlantic without flying. Getting from Helsinki to Southampton by train and boat is fairly straightforward. The only time I did it, I used the Turku–Stockholm ferry, and then travelled via Copenhagen, Cologne, Brussels and London. (I find Deutsche Bahn's website very useful for planning such journeys.) New York to Washington is one of few routes in the US that is well served by train, using the Acela, which is as close as it gets to high-speed rail in the North America.

Answer 5

From summer 2024 (and previously between 2012 and 2014), there are seasonal flights between Greenland and Nunavut, which means you can cross the Atlantic with a series of flights not much longer than 3 hours:

• Ottawa to Iqaluit (domestic flight Canada) is 3 hours 5 minutes.

• Iqaluit (Canada) to Nuuk (Greenland). Most difficult bit. Although announced to restart in summer 2024, a previous attempt only lasted three seasons (2012-2014), so let's see how long it survives this time. The flight is announced to take two hours.

• Nuuk (Greenland) to Keflavík (Iceland) direct, once weekly, is 3 hours 10 minutes.

Although the total adds up to more than the other alternatives, each segment is shorter than the 4½ hours for Keflavík – Halifax, and there's a lot to see on the way. It only works in summer. It's going to be expensive (>$5000). Keflavík — Halifax is far cheaper and probably a better option, but I'm just putting it here as an adventurous alternative.

Edit 2024-10-17: United Airlines has announced seasonal direct flights from Newark to Nuuk, starting June 2025.

This becomes possible due to the expansion of Nuuk Airport, opening November 2024.