New York to Lagos (JFK–LOS): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

JFK → LOS

10 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 93° (E).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Lagos Sun 8 Nov, 02:05 local +1 day.

LOS → JFK

11 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 310° (NW).

Leave Lagos Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 15:20 local.

JFK-bound flights are the slower direction by about 75 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 distance	8,444 km · 5,247 mi · 4,560 nmi
Initial heading	93° (E) from JFK; 310° (NW) from LOS
Farthest from the equator	40.6°N
Crosses	neither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip	42% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

JFK	America/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
LOS	Africa/Lagos — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 all year (no daylight saving time)
Difference	Lagos is 5 hours ahead of New York today; +6 h in January and +5 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying JFK → LOS. 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

LOS Murtala Muhammed International AirportLagos, Nigeria · longest runway 12,794 ft3,900 m

More routes from JFK and LOS

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 LHRLOS London – Lagos 5,004 km3,109 mi · 6 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

IAHFRA Houston – Frankfurt 8,402 km5,221 mi · 9 h 55 min GRUMAD São Paulo – Madrid 8,378 km5,206 mi · 10 h 20 min SEAICN Seattle – Seoul 8,373 km5,203 mi · 11 h 15 min LHRMLE London – Malé 8,539 km5,306 mi · 10 h 15 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).

JFK New York ⇄ LOS Lagos