Los Angeles to Melbourne (LAX–MEL): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

LAX → MEL

16 h 10 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 240° (WSW).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Melbourne Sun 8 Nov, 21:10 local +1 day.

MEL → LAX

15 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 65° (ENE).

Leave Melbourne Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 06:00 local.

MEL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 70 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	12,758 km · 7,928 mi · 6,889 nmi
Initial heading	240° (WSW) from LAX; 65° (ENE) from MEL
Farthest from the equator	37.7°S
Crosses	the equator and the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip	64% 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
MEL	Australia/Melbourne — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
Difference	Melbourne is 18 hours ahead of Los Angeles today; +19 h in January and +17 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LAX → MEL. The clock change is 18 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 6 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 6 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 6 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

MEL Melbourne AirportMelbourne, Australia · longest runway 11,998 ft3,657 m

More routes from LAX and MEL

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 MELHBA Melbourne – Hobart 618 km384 mi · 1 h 45 min SYDMEL Sydney – Melbourne 706 km438 mi · 1 h 55 min MELAKL Melbourne – Auckland 2,637 km1,639 mi · 3 h 45 min MELDPS Melbourne – Bali (Denpasar) 4,381 km2,722 mi · 6 h 15 min MELHND Melbourne – Tokyo 8,158 km5,069 mi · 10 h 20 min DFWMEL Dallas–Fort Worth – Melbourne 14,475 km8,995 mi · 18 h 15 min

Routes of a similar length

JFKJNB New York – Johannesburg 12,831 km7,973 mi · 15 h YYZHKG Toronto – Hong Kong 12,548 km7,797 mi · 15 h 35 min JFKHKG New York – Hong Kong 12,970 km8,059 mi · 15 h 55 min JFKTPE New York – Taipei 12,545 km7,795 mi · 15 h 35 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 ⇄ MEL Melbourne