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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

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.

I would suggest to invest in a good phobia therapy; it will help in the long run.

Either with a private generalist therapist or with a specialist that , erm, specialized in air travel/flight phobia.

I know that some major airlines offer courses/therapy to help passengers get over their fears (or at least minimize them)

For example :

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-assistance/flying-with-confidence

or (in french)

http://www.airfrance.fr/FR/fr/common/guidevoyageur/pratique/sante_anti_stress.htm

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!

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.