JetSetAuthority

Route · Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ MEX Mexico City

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

Distance2,500 km1,554 mi1,350 nautical miles
LAX → MEX3 h 45 minestimated block time
MEX → LAX4 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+1 hMexico City vs Los Angeles, today
Great-circle route from Los Angeles (LAX) to Mexico City (MEX)LAXLos AngelesMEXMexico City
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 → MEX

3 h 45 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 125° (SE).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Mexico City Sat 7 Nov, 15:45 local.

MEX → LAX

4 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 314° (NW).

Leave Mexico City Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 12:05 local.

LAX-bound flights are the slower direction by about 20 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 distance2,500 km · 1,554 mi · 1,350 nmi
Initial heading125° (SE) from LAX; 314° (NW) from MEX
Farthest from the equator33.9°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip12% 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
MEXAmerica/Mexico_City — UTC−6 now; UTC−6 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceMexico City is 1 hour ahead of Los Angeles today; +2 h in January and +1 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying LAX → MEX. Your body clock has to move 1 hour 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 MEX Mexico City Benito Juárez International AirportMexico City, Mexico · longest runway 12,966 ft3,952 m

More routes from LAX and MEX

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 MEXGDL Mexico City – Guadalajara 459 km285 mi · 1 h 35 min IAHMEX Houston – Mexico City 1,232 km765 mi · 2 h 30 min MEXCUN Mexico City – Cancún 1,285 km798 mi · 2 h 25 min BOGMEX Bogotá – Mexico City 3,159 km1,963 mi · 4 h 45 min JFKMEX New York – Mexico City 3,365 km2,091 mi · 5 h 05 min MEXCDG Mexico City – Paris 9,199 km5,716 mi · 10 h 45 min

Routes of a similar length

JFKCUN New York – Cancún 2,506 km1,557 mi · 4 h JFKMBJ New York – Montego Bay 2,493 km1,549 mi · 3 h 55 min JFKPUJ New York – Punta Cana 2,508 km1,559 mi · 3 h 50 min LHRIST London – Istanbul 2,487 km1,546 mi · 3 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).