JetSetAuthority

Route · Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America

GRU São Paulo ⇄ FRA Frankfurt

São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (Brazil) and Frankfurt Main Airport (Germany): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance9,796 km6,087 mi5,290 nautical miles
GRU → FRA11 h 50 minestimated block time
FRA → GRU12 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+4 hFrankfurt vs São Paulo, today
Great-circle route from São Paulo (GRU) to Frankfurt (FRA)GRUSão PauloFRAFrankfurt
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

GRU → FRA

11 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 32° (NNE).

Leave São Paulo Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sun 8 Nov, 01:50 local +1 day.

FRA → GRU

12 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 229° (SW).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive São Paulo Sat 7 Nov, 18:35 local.

GRU-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 minutes in our estimate: the route runs partly 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 distance9,796 km · 6,087 mi · 5,290 nmi
Initial heading32° (NNE) from GRU; 229° (SW) from FRA
Farthest from the equator50.0°N
Crossesthe equator
Share of the longest possible trip49% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

GRUAmerica/Sao_Paulo — UTC−3 now; UTC−3 all year (no daylight saving time)
FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceFrankfurt is 4 hours ahead of São Paulo today; +4 h in January and +5 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying GRU → FRA. Your body clock has to move 4 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 4 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

GRU São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International AirportSão Paulo, Brazil · longest runway 12,139 ft3,700 m FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from GRU and FRA

GRUGIG São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro 336 km209 mi · 1 h 25 min GRUEZE São Paulo – Buenos Aires 1,723 km1,070 mi · 3 h 10 min MIAGRU Miami – São Paulo 6,574 km4,085 mi · 8 h 25 min JFKGRU New York – São Paulo 7,664 km4,762 mi · 9 h 35 min GRUCDG São Paulo – Paris 9,405 km5,844 mi · 11 h 25 min DXBGRU Dubai – São Paulo 12,217 km7,591 mi · 15 h 20 min 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 FRAPVG Frankfurt – Shanghai 8,859 km5,505 mi · 10 h 30 min FRASIN Frankfurt – Singapore 10,280 km6,388 mi · 12 h 05 min

Routes of a similar length

LHRMRU London – Mauritius 9,784 km6,080 mi · 11 h 50 min SFOPVG San Francisco – Shanghai 9,877 km6,138 mi · 13 h 20 min CDGHND Paris – Tokyo 9,708 km6,032 mi · 11 h 40 min LHRCPT London – Cape Town 9,682 km6,016 mi · 11 h 55 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).