JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

JFK New York ⇄ PEK Beijing

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

Distance10,979 km6,822 mi5,928 nautical miles
JFK → PEK13 h 40 minestimated block time
PEK → JFK13 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change+12 hBeijing vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Beijing (PEK)JFKNew YorkPEKBeijing
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 → PEK

13 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 352° (N).

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Beijing Sun 8 Nov, 12:40 local +1 day.

PEK → JFK

13 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 8° (N).

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

The two directions differ by 15 minutes in our estimate: this route runs mostly north–south, so the prevailing westerly winds make little difference. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance10,979 km · 6,822 mi · 5,928 nmi
Initial heading352° (N) from JFK; 8° (N) from PEK
Farthest from the equator83.9°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
PEKAsia/Shanghai — UTC+8 now; UTC+8 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceBeijing is 12 hours ahead of New York today; +13 h in January and +12 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying JFK → PEK. A 12-hour shift turns day into night: the body clock is as far out as it can be, and it makes little difference which way it adjusts. A common rule of thumb is that it adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to a week or more to feel fully normal. 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 PEK Beijing Capital International AirportBeijing, China · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from JFK and PEK

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 PEKSHA Beijing – Shanghai 1,076 km668 mi · 2 h 15 min PEKCTU Beijing – Chengdu 1,558 km968 mi · 3 h PEKSZX Beijing – Shenzhen 1,957 km1,216 mi · 3 h 20 min FRAPEK Frankfurt – Beijing 7,789 km4,840 mi · 9 h 20 min CDGPEK Paris – Beijing 8,190 km5,089 mi · 9 h 50 min LAXPEK Los Angeles – Beijing 10,037 km6,237 mi · 13 h 20 min

Routes of a similar length

DFWICN Dallas–Fort Worth – Seoul 10,987 km6,827 mi · 14 h 20 min LAXIST Los Angeles – Istanbul 11,002 km6,836 mi · 13 h 05 min JNBSYD Johannesburg – Sydney 11,024 km6,850 mi · 12 h 35 min LAXTPE Los Angeles – Taipei 10,922 km6,787 mi · 14 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).