JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

JFK New York ⇄ ZRH Zurich

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

Distance6,310 km3,921 mi3,407 nautical miles
JFK → ZRH7 h 40 minestimated block time
ZRH → JFK8 h 55 minestimated block time
Clock change+5 hZurich vs New York, today
Great-circle route from New York (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH)JFKNew YorkZRHZurich
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 → ZRH

7 h 40 min

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

Leave New York Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Zurich Sat 7 Nov, 23:40 local.

ZRH → JFK

8 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 296° (WNW).

Leave Zurich Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive New York Sat 7 Nov, 12:55 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 distance6,310 km · 3,921 mi · 3,407 nmi
Initial heading53° (NE) from JFK; 296° (WNW) from ZRH
Farthest from the equator52.6°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip32% 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
ZRHEurope/Zurich — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceZurich is 5 hours ahead of New York today.

Jet lag, flying JFK → ZRH. 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 ZRH Zürich AirportZurich, Switzerland · longest runway 12,139 ft3,700 m

More routes from JFK and ZRH

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 VIEZRH Vienna – Zurich 603 km375 mi · 1 h 50 min LHRZRH London – Zurich 788 km490 mi · 1 h 55 min

Routes of a similar length

DTWAMS Detroit – Amsterdam 6,324 km3,929 mi · 7 h 45 min SYDSIN Sydney – Singapore 6,293 km3,911 mi · 8 h 30 min YYZFRA Toronto – Frankfurt 6,344 km3,942 mi · 7 h 45 min ORDLHR Chicago – London 6,344 km3,942 mi · 7 h 45 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).