JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

DEN Denver ⇄ ORD Chicago

Denver International Airport (United States) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (United States): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance1,426 km886 mi770 nautical miles
DEN → ORD2 h 30 minestimated block time
ORD → DEN2 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change+1 hChicago vs Denver, today
Great-circle route from Denver (DEN) to Chicago (ORD)DENDenverORDChicago
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

DEN → ORD

2 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 75° (ENE).

Leave Denver Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 13:30 local.

ORD → DEN

2 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 266° (W).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Denver Sat 7 Nov, 11:50 local.

DEN-bound flights are the slower direction by about 20 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 distance1,426 km · 886 mi · 770 nmi
Initial heading75° (ENE) from DEN; 266° (W) from ORD
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip7% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

DENAmerica/Denver — UTC−6 now; UTC−7 standard time, UTC−6 during daylight saving time
ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
DifferenceChicago is 1 hour ahead of Denver today.

Jet lag, flying DEN → ORD. 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

DEN Denver International AirportDenver, United States · longest runway 16,000 ft4,877 m ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m

More routes from DEN and ORD

DENPHX Denver – Phoenix 968 km601 mi · 2 h 15 min DFWDEN Dallas–Fort Worth – Denver 1,032 km641 mi · 2 h 20 min SFODEN San Francisco – Denver 1,553 km965 mi · 2 h 40 min ATLDEN Atlanta – Denver 1,927 km1,197 mi · 3 h 30 min JFKDEN New York – Denver 2,610 km1,622 mi · 4 h 20 min DENFRA Denver – Frankfurt 8,089 km5,026 mi · 9 h 45 min ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min JFKORD New York – Chicago 1,188 km738 mi · 2 h 35 min ORDMCO Chicago – Orlando 1,620 km1,007 mi · 2 h 50 min SEAORD Seattle – Chicago 2,762 km1,716 mi · 3 h 55 min ORDLHR Chicago – London 6,344 km3,942 mi · 7 h 45 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

ATLCUN Atlanta – Cancún 1,421 km883 mi · 2 h 40 min SINBKK Singapore – Bangkok 1,417 km880 mi · 2 h 40 min LHRFCO London – Rome 1,444 km897 mi · 2 h 35 min SVOAER Moscow – Sochi 1,405 km873 mi · 2 h 40 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).