A flight’s duration is the arrival time minus the departure time, after correcting for the time zone difference, because both times on a ticket are local. If you do not have a timetable, you can estimate it by dividing the distance by a typical speed of roughly 800 to 900 km/h and adding time for taxiing, climb and descent.
Method 1: from the times on the ticket
Tickets show local times at each airport. If you subtract them directly, you will get the wrong answer whenever the two airports are in different zones. The correct method is to convert both to UTC first.
Example: a flight leaves London at 09:30 BST (UTC+1) on 10 June 2026 and lands in New York at 12:35 local time (UTC-4, daylight time) the same day.
- Departure in UTC: 09:30 minus 1 hour = 08:30.
- Arrival in UTC: 12:35 plus 4 hours = 16:35.
- Duration: 16:35 minus 08:30 = 8 hours 5 minutes (485 minutes).
That is what the Flight duration tool calculates. If you had ignored the offset, you would have thought the flight took only 3 hours 5 minutes. For more on offsets and daylight saving, see Time zones explained: how to convert times without mistakes.
Method 2: estimate from distance
If you only know how far the journey is, divide the distance by a typical speed and add an allowance for the parts of the journey that are slower than cruising.
A jet airliner usually cruises at roughly 800 to 900 km/h. The Flight time from distance tool uses these default speeds:
| Aircraft type | Typical speed used |
|---|---|
| Wide-body jet | about 820 km/h |
| Narrow-body jet | about 750 km/h |
| Turboprop | about 470 km/h |
Worked example: 5,570 km (about 3,461 miles) in a wide-body jet at 820 km/h is 6.79 hours of flying. Add 30 minutes for taxi, take-off, climb and descent and the estimate is about 7 hours 18 minutes.
Why real flight times differ
Estimates are not timetables. Several things change the real duration:
- Winds. A headwind slows you and a tailwind speeds you up. On long routes the difference can be an hour or more. Westbound transatlantic flights are usually about an hour longer than eastbound flights.
- Routing. Flights follow routes set by air traffic control, which are rarely a straight line.
- Airport delays. Queues for the runway and holding patterns add time.
- Aircraft. Different types cruise at different speeds, and airlines pick speeds to save fuel.
Airlines also pad their published timetables, so scheduled durations are often longer than the time spent in the air.
What “flight time” does and does not include
Some sources quote time from take-off to landing, others the whole journey from gate to gate. The tool above uses the times on your ticket, which include taxiing at each end. Always allow extra time for check-in, security, boarding and getting to the airport. If you are driving to the airport, you can estimate the journey cost with Fuel cost and mpg: UK gallons, litres and trip costs.
Tips for planning a trip
- Check whether the arrival time shows “+1”, which means the next calendar day.
- Allow for the jet lag effect: crossing many time zones can leave you tired for a day or more.
- Compare layover times with the connection rules of the airline, because short connections can be missed if the first leg runs late.
- Work out the local time at your destination for hotel check-in and pick-ups.
Note: These calculations are estimates for planning only. Always rely on the times shown by your airline for the real schedule.
Worked example: reading an overnight itinerary
Imagine a ticket that shows departure from Manchester at 21:00 and arrival at another airport at 06:30 the next morning, local time, with the destination on UTC-4. Convert both times to the same zone. 21:00 in Manchester is 20:00 UTC in summer. 06:30 at the destination is 10:30 UTC. The duration is 14 hours 30 minutes, which is likely to include a connection, not a single non-stop flight. Working in UTC makes it easy to spot whether an itinerary is one long flight or several legs with waiting time in between.
Try the calculator
Use Flight duration to find the duration from your ticket times, or Flight time from distance to estimate it from a distance and aircraft type. Both run in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate flight time across time zones?
Convert the departure and arrival times to UTC using each place’s offset, then subtract. Do not subtract the local times directly.
How fast does a passenger jet fly?
Roughly 800 to 900 km/h at cruising altitude, though the average over the whole trip is lower because of take-off, climb and descent.
Why is the flight home longer than the outbound flight?
Prevailing winds often blow from west to east, so flights heading west across the Atlantic tend to be longer than those heading east.
Does the time on my ticket include taxiing?
Yes. Scheduled times are generally gate to gate, so they include taxiing as well as time in the air.