Cheap flights from London to Osaka

November comes out cheapest on this route, and the price calendar covers every month of the year, so you can see how the rest of the year compares before you commit. Late autumn and winter are the quiet stretch at the London end; spring and summer bring school-holiday demand from the UK and the crowds heading to Japan for the blossom. Midweek departures are usually calmer and cheaper than weekend ones. Because every option here involves a connection, booking earlier pays off more than it does on short-haul routes — the long-haul legs fill up first.

Every carrier on this route is a full-service airline, so there is no budget option to fall back on. Emirates and Qatar Airways connect you through the Gulf, Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong, Air China, Shenzhen Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines through mainland China, while Finnair, Vietnam Airlines, Thai Airways Intl and ITA Airways add further one-stop choices. What separates them is the layover and the fare rules: the tickets look similar until you check what each one includes. Compare total journey time rather than the headline fare, and look at whether both legs sit on a single ticket.

Osaka has two airports, and which one you land at depends on your ticket. Long-haul arrivals from Europe come into Kansai International, built on an island in the bay and linked to the city by train and by bus. Osaka Intl (Itami) sits closer to the centre and is the one you are more likely to use for a domestic hop onward. Immigration at Kansai can take a while when several wide-body flights land together, so leave some slack in your plans for the first evening and have your train or bus option into town worked out before you land.

Currency

JPY (円)

Power sockets

Type A, B · 100 V

Language

Japanese

Emergency number

110, 118, 119

Calling code

+81

Internet domain

.jp

Population of Osaka

2.8 M (2021)

Time zone

UTC+09 (Asia/Tokyo)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check which London airport you fly from — the five are far apart and switching between them costs you a day.
• Nothing on this route is non-stop, so compare total journey time and the layover airport, not just the departure time.
• If the connection sits on a separate ticket, a missed onward flight is your risk, so leave a generous gap.
• Confirm what the fare includes, from checked baggage to seat selection, before you compare two tickets.
• Check Japan's entry rules and passport validity well before departure.
• November is the cheapest month here; for spring or summer travel, book earlier.