JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

HNL Honolulu ⇄ SYD Sydney

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (United States) and Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (Australia): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,170 km5,077 mi4,412 nautical miles
HNL → SYD10 h 35 minestimated block time
SYD → HNL10 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+21 hSydney vs Honolulu, today
Great-circle route from Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD)HNLHonoluluSYDSydney
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

HNL → SYD

10 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 222° (SW).

Leave Honolulu Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Sydney Sun 8 Nov, 17:35 local +1 day.

SYD → HNL

10 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 49° (NE).

Leave Sydney Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Honolulu Fri 6 Nov, 23:05 local -1 day.

SYD-bound flights are the slower direction by about 30 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 distance8,170 km · 5,077 mi · 4,412 nmi
Initial heading222° (SW) from HNL; 49° (NE) from SYD
Farthest from the equator33.9°S
Crossesthe equator and the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip41% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

HNLPacific/Honolulu — UTC−10 now; UTC−10 all year (no daylight saving time)
SYDAustralia/Sydney — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
DifferenceSydney is 21 hours ahead of Honolulu today; +21 h in January and +20 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying HNL → SYD. The clock change is 21 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 3 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 3 hours later, like a westward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 3 days to fully adjust. Shifting later (as here) is usually the easier direction; evening daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

HNL Daniel K. Inouye International AirportHonolulu, United States · longest runway 12,360 ft3,767 m SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith International AirportSydney, Australia · longest runway 12,999 ft3,962 m

More routes from HNL and SYD

HNLOGG Honolulu – Maui (Kahului) 162 km101 mi · 1 h 15 min LAXHNL Los Angeles – Honolulu 4,108 km2,553 mi · 6 h 05 min YVRHNL Vancouver – Honolulu 4,354 km2,705 mi · 6 h 20 min HNLNRT Honolulu – Tokyo 6,136 km3,813 mi · 8 h 40 min HNLAKL Honolulu – Auckland 7,089 km4,405 mi · 9 h 15 min JFKHNL New York – Honolulu 8,007 km4,975 mi · 11 h 05 min SYDCBR Sydney – Canberra 236 km147 mi · 1 h 20 min SYDCHC Sydney – Christchurch 2,126 km1,321 mi · 3 h 15 min SYDMNL Sydney – Manila 6,263 km3,892 mi · 8 h 20 min SYDICN Sydney – Seoul 8,343 km5,184 mi · 10 h 40 min DXBSYD Dubai – Sydney 12,043 km7,483 mi · 14 h 15 min LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

LHRSEZ London – Mahé 8,176 km5,080 mi · 10 h MELHND Melbourne – Tokyo 8,158 km5,069 mi · 10 h 20 min SFODUB San Francisco – Dublin 8,183 km5,085 mi · 9 h 55 min LHRPEK London – Beijing 8,154 km5,067 mi · 9 h 50 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).