JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

JFK New York ⇄ MAD Madrid

John F. Kennedy International Airport (United States) and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (Spain): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance5,760 km3,579 mi3,110 nautical miles
JFK → MAD7 hestimated block time
MAD → JFK8 h 20 minestimated block time
Clock change+5 hMadrid vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Madrid (MAD)JFKNew YorkMADMadrid
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 → MAD

7 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 66° (ENE).

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

MAD → JFK

8 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 295° (WNW).

Leave Madrid Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 12:20 local.

JFK-bound flights are the slower direction by about 80 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 distance5,760 km · 3,579 mi · 3,110 nmi
Initial heading66° (ENE) from JFK; 295° (WNW) from MAD
Farthest from the equator46.3°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip29% 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
MADEurope/Madrid — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceMadrid is 5 hours ahead of New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → MAD. 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 MAD Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas AirportMadrid, Spain · longest runway 14,271 ft4,350 m

More routes from JFK and MAD

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 MADBCN Madrid – Barcelona 483 km300 mi · 1 h 35 min CDGMAD Paris – Madrid 1,062 km660 mi · 2 h 20 min AMSMAD Amsterdam – Madrid 1,459 km906 mi · 2 h 45 min MADCUN Madrid – Cancún 7,960 km4,946 mi · 11 h MEXMAD Mexico City – Madrid 9,065 km5,633 mi · 10 h 30 min SCLMAD Santiago – Madrid 10,719 km6,661 mi · 12 h 50 min

Routes of a similar length

SEAKEF Seattle – Reykjavík 5,811 km3,611 mi · 7 h 25 min YYZLHR Toronto – London 5,707 km3,546 mi · 7 h 05 min PHLLHR Philadelphia – London 5,690 km3,536 mi · 7 h DXBSIN Dubai – Singapore 5,846 km3,632 mi · 7 h 30 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).