JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

JFK New York ⇄ ATH Athens

John F. Kennedy International Airport (United States) and Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (Greece): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance7,933 km4,929 mi4,283 nautical miles
JFK → ATH9 h 20 minestimated block time
ATH → JFK11 hestimated block time
Clock change+6 hAthens vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Athens (ATH)JFKNew YorkATHAthens
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

JFK → ATH

9 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 56° (NE).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Athens Sun 8 Nov, 02:20 local +1 day.

ATH → JFK

11 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 307° (NW).

Leave Athens Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 14:00 local.

JFK-bound flights are the slower direction by about 100 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 distance7,933 km · 4,929 mi · 4,283 nmi
Initial heading56° (NE) from JFK; 307° (NW) from ATH
Farthest from the equator51.2°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip40% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

JFKAmerica/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
ATHEurope/Athens — UTC+2 now; UTC+2 standard time, UTC+3 during daylight saving time
DifferenceAthens is 6 hours ahead of New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → ATH. Your body clock has to move 6 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 6 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

JFK John F. Kennedy International AirportNew York, United States · longest runway 14,511 ft4,423 m ATH Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International AirportAthens, Greece · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from JFK and ATH

JFKBOS New York – Boston 300 km186 mi · 1 h 20 min JFKDEN New York – Denver 2,610 km1,622 mi · 4 h 20 min JFKLHR New York – London 5,540 km3,442 mi · 6 h 50 min JFKMUC New York – Munich 6,481 km4,027 mi · 7 h 50 min JFKNRT New York – Tokyo 10,830 km6,729 mi · 13 h 50 min SINJFK Singapore – New York 15,341 km9,532 mi · 18 h 30 min ATHJMK Athens – Mykonos 136 km84 mi · 1 h 10 min ATHJTR Athens – Santorini 218 km136 mi · 1 h 15 min ATHIST Athens – Istanbul 553 km344 mi · 1 h 40 min FCOATH Rome – Athens 1,085 km674 mi · 2 h 10 min AMSATH Amsterdam – Athens 2,182 km1,356 mi · 3 h 20 min LHRATH London – Athens 2,427 km1,508 mi · 3 h 35 min

Routes of a similar length

GRULIS São Paulo – Lisbon 7,935 km4,930 mi · 9 h 55 min MADCUN Madrid – Cancún 7,960 km4,946 mi · 11 h LGWCUN London – Cancún 7,976 km4,956 mi · 10 h 55 min SEAAMS Seattle – Amsterdam 7,840 km4,872 mi · 9 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).