JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

JFK New York ⇄ ICN Seoul

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

Distance11,089 km6,890 mi5,987 nautical miles
JFK → ICN13 h 55 minestimated block time
ICN → JFK13 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change+13 hSeoul vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Seoul (ICN)JFKNew YorkICNSeoul
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 → ICN

13 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 344° (NNW).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Seoul Sun 8 Nov, 13:55 local +1 day.

ICN → JFK

13 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 15° (NNE).

Leave Seoul Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 09:25 local.

ICN-bound flights are the slower direction by about 30 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 distance11,089 km · 6,890 mi · 5,987 nmi
Initial heading344° (NNW) from JFK; 15° (NNE) from ICN
Farthest from the equator77.8°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesthe 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip55% 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
ICNAsia/Seoul — UTC+9 now; UTC+9 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceSeoul is 13 hours ahead of New York today; +14 h in January and +13 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying JFK → ICN. The clock change is 13 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 11 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 11 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 11 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 ICN Incheon International AirportSeoul, South Korea · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from JFK and ICN

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 DOHJFK Doha – New York 10,770 km6,692 mi · 14 h 15 min SINJFK Singapore – New York 15,341 km9,532 mi · 18 h 30 min ICNKIX Seoul – Osaka 860 km535 mi · 1 h 55 min ICNHKG Seoul – Hong Kong 2,069 km1,286 mi · 3 h 30 min YVRICN Vancouver – Seoul 8,200 km5,095 mi · 11 h FRAICN Frankfurt – Seoul 8,544 km5,309 mi · 10 h 15 min LAXICN Los Angeles – Seoul 9,625 km5,981 mi · 13 h ATLICN Atlanta – Seoul 11,487 km7,138 mi · 14 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

SFOHKG San Francisco – Hong Kong 11,128 km6,915 mi · 14 h 50 min JNBSYD Johannesburg – Sydney 11,024 km6,850 mi · 12 h 35 min EZEFCO Buenos Aires – Rome 11,156 km6,932 mi · 13 h 20 min LAXIST Los Angeles – Istanbul 11,002 km6,836 mi · 13 h 05 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).