JetSetAuthority

Route · Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

AKL Auckland ⇄ PPT Papeete (Tahiti)

Auckland International Airport (New Zealand) and Fa'a'ā International Airport (French Polynesia): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance4,094 km2,544 mi2,211 nautical miles
AKL → PPT5 h 25 minestimated block time
PPT → AKL6 hestimated block time
Clock change−23 hPapeete (Tahiti) vs Auckland, today
Great-circle route from Auckland (AKL) to Papeete (Tahiti) (PPT)AKLAucklandPPTPapeete (Tahiti)
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

AKL → PPT

5 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 68° (ENE).

Leave Auckland Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Papeete (Tahiti) Fri 6 Nov, 16:25 local -1 day.

PPT → AKL

6 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 231° (SW).

Leave Papeete (Tahiti) Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Auckland Sun 8 Nov, 15:00 local +1 day.

AKL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 35 minutes in our estimate: the route runs mostly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance4,094 km · 2,544 mi · 2,211 nmi
Initial heading68° (ENE) from AKL; 231° (SW) from PPT
Farthest from the equator37.0°S
Crossesthe 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip20% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

AKLPacific/Auckland — UTC+13 now; UTC+12 standard time, UTC+13 during daylight saving time
PPTPacific/Tahiti — UTC−10 now; UTC−10 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferencePapeete (Tahiti) is 23 hours behind Auckland today; −23 h in January and −22 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying AKL → PPT. The clock change is 23 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 1 hour the other way. Your body clock has to move 1 hour earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

AKL Auckland International AirportAuckland, New Zealand · longest runway 11,926 ft3,635 m PPT Fa'a'ā International AirportPapeete (Tahiti), French Polynesia · longest runway 11,360 ft3,463 m

More routes from AKL and PPT

AKLWLG Auckland – Wellington 480 km298 mi · 1 h 35 min AKLNAN Auckland – Nadi (Fiji) 2,156 km1,340 mi · 3 h 30 min MELAKL Melbourne – Auckland 2,637 km1,639 mi · 3 h 45 min AKLEZE Auckland – Buenos Aires 10,312 km6,408 mi · 12 h DXBAKL Dubai – Auckland 14,199 km8,823 mi · 16 h 30 min DOHAKL Doha – Auckland 14,534 km9,031 mi · 16 h 50 min LAXPPT Los Angeles – Papeete (Tahiti) 6,611 km4,108 mi · 8 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

LAXHNL Los Angeles – Honolulu 4,108 km2,553 mi · 6 h 05 min EWRSFO Newark – San Francisco 4,118 km2,559 mi · 6 h 15 min JNBADD Johannesburg – Addis Ababa 4,068 km2,528 mi · 5 h 40 min JFKSFO New York – San Francisco 4,152 km2,580 mi · 6 h 20 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).