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Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

FRA Frankfurt ⇄ PVG Shanghai

Frankfurt Main Airport (Germany) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (China): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,859 km5,505 mi4,783 nautical miles
FRA → PVG10 h 30 minestimated block time
PVG → FRA11 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change+7 hShanghai vs Frankfurt, today
Great-circle route from Frankfurt (FRA) to Shanghai (PVG)FRAFrankfurtPVGShanghai
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

FRA → PVG

10 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 53° (NE).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Shanghai Sun 8 Nov, 03:30 local +1 day.

PVG → FRA

11 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 323° (NW).

Leave Shanghai Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 14:50 local.

FRA-bound flights are the slower direction by about 80 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 distance8,859 km · 5,505 mi · 4,783 nmi
Initial heading53° (NE) from FRA; 323° (NW) from PVG
Farthest from the equator59.1°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip44% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
PVGAsia/Shanghai — UTC+8 now; UTC+8 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceShanghai is 7 hours ahead of Frankfurt today; +7 h in January and +6 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying FRA → PVG. Your body clock has to move 7 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 7 days to fully adjust. Shifting earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m PVG Shanghai Pudong International AirportShanghai, China · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from FRA and PVG

FRABER Frankfurt – Berlin 431 km268 mi · 1 h 30 min FRADEL Frankfurt – Delhi 6,122 km3,804 mi · 7 h 25 min ORDFRA Chicago – Frankfurt 6,971 km4,331 mi · 8 h 25 min DFWFRA Dallas–Fort Worth – Frankfurt 8,258 km5,131 mi · 9 h 50 min FRABKK Frankfurt – Bangkok 9,000 km5,593 mi · 10 h 35 min FRASIN Frankfurt – Singapore 10,280 km6,388 mi · 12 h 05 min PEKPVG Beijing – Shanghai 1,099 km683 mi · 2 h 15 min PVGHKG Shanghai – Hong Kong 1,255 km780 mi · 2 h 35 min PVGNRT Shanghai – Tokyo 1,796 km1,116 mi · 2 h 55 min YVRPVG Vancouver – Shanghai 9,016 km5,602 mi · 12 h LHRPVG London – Shanghai 9,241 km5,742 mi · 11 h LAXPVG Los Angeles – Shanghai 10,415 km6,472 mi · 14 h

Routes of a similar length

LHRICN London – Seoul 8,861 km5,506 mi · 10 h 40 min LAXNAN Los Angeles – Nadi (Fiji) 8,893 km5,526 mi · 11 h 30 min LAXHND Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,812 km5,476 mi · 12 h 10 min CDGICN Paris – Seoul 8,927 km5,547 mi · 10 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).