Los Angeles to Hong Kong (LAX–HKG): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

LAX → HKG

15 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 311° (NW).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Hong Kong Sun 8 Nov, 17:30 local +1 day.

HKG → LAX

13 h 15 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 43° (NE).

Leave Hong Kong Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 07:15 local.

HKG-bound flights are the slower direction by about 135 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	11,664 km · 7,248 mi · 6,298 nmi
Initial heading	311° (NW) from LAX; 43° (NE) from HKG
Farthest from the equator	51.1°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crosses	the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip	58% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LAX	America/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
HKG	Asia/Hong_Kong — UTC+8 now; UTC+8 all year (no daylight saving time)
Difference	Hong Kong is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles today; +16 h in January and +15 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LAX → HKG. The clock change is 15 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 9 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 9 hours later, like a westward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 9 days to fully adjust. Shifting later (as here) is usually the easier direction; evening daylight at the destination helps. 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

HKG Hong Kong International AirportHong Kong, Hong Kong · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from LAX and HKG

LAXLAS Los Angeles – Las Vegas 380 km236 mi · 1 h 25 min LAXSEA Los Angeles – Seattle 1,537 km955 mi · 2 h 50 min EWRLAX Newark – Los Angeles 3,941 km2,449 mi · 6 h 05 min LAXNAN Los Angeles – Nadi (Fiji) 8,893 km5,526 mi · 11 h 30 min LAXAKL Los Angeles – Auckland 10,487 km6,516 mi · 13 h 20 min LAXSIN Los Angeles – Singapore 14,102 km8,762 mi · 18 h 25 min HKGTPE Hong Kong – Taipei 806 km501 mi · 1 h 55 min HKGBKK Hong Kong – Bangkok 1,690 km1,050 mi · 3 h HKGSIN Hong Kong – Singapore 2,566 km1,594 mi · 4 h SYDHKG Sydney – Hong Kong 7,394 km4,595 mi · 9 h 35 min YVRHKG Vancouver – Hong Kong 10,269 km6,381 mi · 13 h 30 min JFKHKG New York – Hong Kong 12,970 km8,059 mi · 15 h 55 min

Routes of a similar length

DXBMEL Dubai – Melbourne 11,644 km7,235 mi · 13 h 50 min IADADD Washington – Addis Ababa 11,563 km7,185 mi · 13 h 15 min ATLICN Atlanta – Seoul 11,487 km7,138 mi · 14 h 40 min SFOSYD San Francisco – Sydney 11,950 km7,425 mi · 15 h 10 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).

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ HKG Hong Kong