Flight Time Estimator

Flight time between two airports is calculated from the great circle distance between them — the shortest path over the Earth’s curved surface — divided by the aircraft’s cruising speed, then adjusted for headwinds, tailwinds, and routing deviations.

Great circle distance formula (Haversine formula): d = 2R × arcsin(√(sin²(Δlat/2) + cos(lat₁) × cos(lat₂) × sin²(Δlon/2))) where R = Earth’s radius = 6,371 km (3,959 miles)

Flight time formula: Estimated Flight Time = Great Circle Distance ÷ Ground Speed Ground Speed = Airspeed ± Wind Component (subtract headwinds, add tailwinds)

What each variable means:

• Great Circle Distance — the shortest path between two points on a sphere. Real flight paths deviate from this due to jet streams, restricted airspace, weather avoidance, and ATC routing.
• Airspeed — the aircraft’s speed through the air. Typical commercial cruising: 850–920 km/h (530–570 mph) for narrow-body; 900–960 km/h for wide-body.
• Tailwind/Headwind — winds at cruising altitude (35,000–42,000 ft) significantly affect ground speed. Transatlantic jets often ride the polar jet stream for 100–200 km/h tailwind assistance eastbound.

Reference: typical flight times and distances:

• New York → Los Angeles — ~4,500 km, ~5h 30m westbound / ~5h 00m eastbound (jet stream)
• London → New York — ~5,570 km, ~7h 00m westbound / ~8h 30m eastbound
• Sydney → Dallas — ~13,800 km, ~17h (one of the world’s longest routes)
• Dubai → London — ~5,500 km, ~7h 30m

Worked example: New York (40.7°N, 74.0°W) to Los Angeles (34.0°N, 118.2°W). Haversine distance ≈ 3,940 km (2,448 miles). Westbound into headwind: ground speed ≈ 820 km/h. Flight time = 3,940 ÷ 820 = 4.8 hours ≈ 4h 48m (matches typical scheduled time).

Time zone note: Flight time is the actual hours in the air, not the clock difference. A 5h 30m flight from New York (Eastern) to Los Angeles (Pacific) means landing 5h 30m after departure in absolute time — but clocks show only 2h 30m later because LA is 3 hours behind.