JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

JFK New York ⇄ HNL Honolulu

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

Distance8,007 km4,975 mi4,323 nautical miles
JFK → HNL11 h 05 minestimated block time
HNL → JFK9 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change−6 hHonolulu vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Honolulu (HNL)JFKNew YorkHNLHonolulu
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 → HNL

11 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 283° (WNW).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Honolulu Sat 7 Nov, 16:05 local.

HNL → JFK

9 h 25 min

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

Leave Honolulu Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sun 8 Nov, 00:25 local +1 day.

HNL-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 distance8,007 km · 4,975 mi · 4,323 nmi
Initial heading283° (WNW) from JFK; 53° (NE) from HNL
Farthest from the equator42.3°N
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
HNLPacific/Honolulu — UTC−10 now; UTC−10 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceHonolulu is 6 hours behind New York today; −5 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 JFK → HNL. Your body clock has to move 6 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 6 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

JFK John F. Kennedy International AirportNew York, United States · longest runway 14,511 ft4,423 m HNL Daniel K. Inouye International AirportHonolulu, United States · longest runway 12,360 ft3,767 m

More routes from JFK and HNL

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 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 HNLSYD Honolulu – Sydney 8,170 km5,077 mi · 10 h 35 min

Routes of a similar length

BOGMAD Bogotá – Madrid 8,031 km4,990 mi · 9 h 40 min LGWCUN London – Cancún 7,976 km4,956 mi · 10 h 55 min LHRBLR London – Bengaluru 8,046 km5,000 mi · 9 h 35 min MADCUN Madrid – Cancún 7,960 km4,946 mi · 11 h

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).