JetSetAuthority

Route · Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America

MAD Madrid ⇄ CUN Cancún

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (Spain) and Cancún International Airport (Mexico): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance7,960 km4,946 mi4,298 nautical miles
MAD → CUN11 hestimated block time
CUN → MAD9 h 20 minestimated block time
Clock change−6 hCancún vs Madrid, today
Great-circle route from Madrid (MAD) to Cancún (CUN)MADMadridCUNCancún
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

MAD → CUN

11 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 282° (WNW).

Leave Madrid Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Cancún Sat 7 Nov, 15:00 local.

CUN → MAD

9 h 20 min

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

Leave Cancún Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Madrid Sun 8 Nov, 01:20 local +1 day.

CUN-bound flights are the slower direction by about 100 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 distance7,960 km · 4,946 mi · 4,298 nmi
Initial heading282° (WNW) from MAD; 53° (NE) from CUN
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip40% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

MADEurope/Madrid — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
CUNAmerica/Cancun — UTC−5 now; UTC−5 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceCancún is 6 hours behind Madrid today; −6 h in January and −7 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying MAD → CUN. 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

MAD Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas AirportMadrid, Spain · longest runway 14,271 ft4,350 m CUN Cancún International AirportCancún, Mexico · longest runway 11,483 ft3,500 m

More routes from MAD and CUN

MADBCN Madrid – Barcelona 483 km300 mi · 1 h 35 min CDGMAD Paris – Madrid 1,062 km660 mi · 2 h 20 min AMSMAD Amsterdam – Madrid 1,459 km906 mi · 2 h 45 min MIAMAD Miami – Madrid 7,106 km4,415 mi · 8 h 25 min MEXMAD Mexico City – Madrid 9,065 km5,633 mi · 10 h 30 min SCLMAD Santiago – Madrid 10,719 km6,661 mi · 12 h 50 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 MANCUN Manchester – Cancún 7,794 km4,843 mi · 10 h 40 min FRACUN Frankfurt – Cancún 8,605 km5,347 mi · 11 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

GRULIS São Paulo – Lisbon 7,935 km4,930 mi · 9 h 55 min JFKATH New York – Athens 7,933 km4,929 mi · 9 h 20 min JFKHNL New York – Honolulu 8,007 km4,975 mi · 11 h 05 min JFKIST New York – Istanbul 8,026 km4,987 mi · 9 h 30 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).