JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

JFK New York ⇄ CPH Copenhagen

John F. Kennedy International Airport (United States) and Copenhagen Kastrup Airport (Denmark): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance6,189 km3,846 mi3,342 nautical miles
JFK → CPH7 h 40 minestimated block time
CPH → JFK8 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+5 hCopenhagen vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Copenhagen (CPH)JFKNew YorkCPHCopenhagen
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 → CPH

7 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 43° (NE).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Copenhagen Sat 7 Nov, 23:40 local.

CPH → JFK

8 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 293° (WNW).

Leave Copenhagen Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 12:35 local.

JFK-bound flights are the slower direction by about 60 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 distance6,189 km · 3,846 mi · 3,342 nmi
Initial heading43° (NE) from JFK; 293° (WNW) from CPH
Farthest from the equator58.8°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip31% 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
CPHEurope/Copenhagen — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceCopenhagen is 5 hours ahead of New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → CPH. Your body clock has to move 5 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 5 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 CPH Copenhagen Kastrup AirportCopenhagen, Denmark · longest runway 11,811 ft3,600 m

More routes from JFK and CPH

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 JFKFCO New York – Rome 6,866 km4,267 mi · 8 h 10 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 CPHOSL Copenhagen – Oslo 517 km321 mi · 1 h 40 min CPHARN Copenhagen – Stockholm 547 km340 mi · 1 h 40 min LHRCPH London – Copenhagen 979 km609 mi · 2 h 05 min KEFCPH Reykjavík – Copenhagen 2,144 km1,332 mi · 3 h 25 min

Routes of a similar length

HNLHND Honolulu – Tokyo 6,191 km3,847 mi · 8 h 45 min IADCDG Washington – Paris 6,198 km3,851 mi · 7 h 30 min EWRFRA Newark – Frankfurt 6,211 km3,859 mi · 7 h 35 min HNLNRT Honolulu – Tokyo 6,136 km3,813 mi · 8 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).