Flight Time Calculator: Estimate Flight Time Between Airports

How the flight time estimate works

The calculator finds the straight-line distance over the Earth's surface between two airports, called the great-circle distance. It uses the haversine formula: the haversine of the central angle equals sin squared of half the latitude difference, plus cos of the first latitude times cos of the second times sin squared of half the longitude difference. The distance is that angle in radians times the Earth's radius, here about 3,959 miles.

The latitude and longitude for each of the 64 airports come from the OurAirports public dataset. Because the Earth is slightly flattened, the haversine result can be off by up to about half a percent, which is small next to real-world route changes. Airlines fly around weather, restricted airspace and traffic, so actual routes are usually longer than the straight line.

To turn distance into time, the tool divides miles by your ground speed, then adds a taxi, takeoff and climb allowance. The default is a 500 mph cruise speed and 30 minutes, both editable. A worked example: New York JFK to Los Angeles is about 2,469 miles. At 500 mph that is 4 hr 56 min, and 30 more minutes makes about 5 hr 26 min. Enter a tailwind as a positive number and a headwind as a negative one. Westbound transcontinental flights usually take longer than eastbound ones for this reason.

The page also shows a local arrival time using standard-time zone offsets. If one end of your trip is on daylight saving time, shift the result by one hour. Crossing many zones can leave you tired, so pair the estimate with the jet lag calculator. If you drive to the airport, compare lots with the airport parking calculator. This is a planning estimate, and your airline's published schedule is the final word. Gate times, runway queues and en-route weather all add or remove minutes, so leave a comfortable buffer before any connection or pickup you have planned at the far end.

Where these numbers come from

The formulas and default values in this calculator are based on:

• OurAirports airport data (airports.csv, large airport records), fetched 2026-09-30
• Wikipedia, Haversine formula. Note: the 500 mph cruise speed and 30 minute allowance are planning defaults you can edit
• zone offsets are standard time

This is a planning estimate, not medical, legal or immigration advice. Fees, allowances, limits and entry rules change, so confirm the figures with your airline, cruise line, customs agency or the official government source before you book or travel, and follow their rules if they differ from this page.