JetSetAuthority

Route · Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ CUN Cancún

Los Angeles International Airport (United States) and Cancún International Airport (Mexico): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance3,407 km2,117 mi1,839 nautical miles
LAX → CUN4 h 40 minestimated block time
CUN → LAX5 h 15 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hCancún vs Los Angeles, today
Great-circle route from Los Angeles (LAX) to Cancún (CUN)LAXLos AngelesCUNCancún
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

LAX → CUN

4 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 107° (ESE).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Cancún Sat 7 Nov, 17:40 local.

CUN → LAX

5 h 15 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 302° (WNW).

Leave Cancún Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 12:15 local.

LAX-bound flights are the slower direction by about 35 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 distance3,407 km · 2,117 mi · 1,839 nmi
Initial heading107° (ESE) from LAX; 302° (WNW) from CUN
Farthest from the equator33.9°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip17% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LAXAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
CUNAmerica/Cancun — UTC−5 now; UTC−5 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceCancún is 2 hours ahead of Los Angeles today; +3 h in January and +2 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LAX → CUN. Your body clock has to move 2 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

LAX Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles, United States · longest runway 12,894 ft3,930 m CUN Cancún International AirportCancún, Mexico · longest runway 11,483 ft3,500 m

More routes from LAX and CUN

LAXLAS Los Angeles – Las Vegas 380 km236 mi · 1 h 25 min LAXSEA Los Angeles – Seattle 1,537 km955 mi · 2 h 50 min JFKLAX New York – Los Angeles 3,974 km2,469 mi · 6 h 05 min LAXAMS Los Angeles – Amsterdam 8,956 km5,565 mi · 10 h 45 min LAXTPE Los Angeles – Taipei 10,922 km6,787 mi · 14 h 40 min LAXSIN Los Angeles – Singapore 14,102 km8,762 mi · 18 h 25 min MIACUN Miami – Cancún 855 km531 mi · 2 h 05 min IAHCUN Houston – Cancún 1,307 km812 mi · 2 h 30 min ORDCUN Chicago – Cancún 2,330 km1,448 mi · 3 h 40 min YYZCUN Toronto – Cancún 2,605 km1,618 mi · 4 h 05 min MADCUN Madrid – Cancún 7,960 km4,946 mi · 11 h FRACUN Frankfurt – Cancún 8,605 km5,347 mi · 11 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

JFKMEX New York – Mexico City 3,365 km2,091 mi · 5 h 05 min YYZYVR Toronto – Vancouver 3,346 km2,079 mi · 5 h 15 min GRULIM São Paulo – Lima 3,475 km2,159 mi · 5 h 10 min TLVCDG Tel Aviv – Paris 3,284 km2,040 mi · 5 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).