JetSetAuthority

Route · Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

MEL Melbourne ⇄ AKL Auckland

Melbourne Airport (Australia) and Auckland International Airport (New Zealand): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance2,637 km1,639 mi1,424 nautical miles
MEL → AKL3 h 45 minestimated block time
AKL → MEL4 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hAuckland vs Melbourne, today
Great-circle route from Melbourne (MEL) to Auckland (AKL)MELMelbourneAKLAuckland
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

MEL → AKL

3 h 45 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 98° (E).

Leave Melbourne Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Auckland Sat 7 Nov, 15:45 local.

AKL → MEL

4 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 259° (W).

Leave Auckland Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Melbourne Sat 7 Nov, 12:25 local.

MEL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 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 distance2,637 km · 1,639 mi · 1,424 nmi
Initial heading98° (E) from MEL; 259° (W) from AKL
Farthest from the equator38.3°S
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip13% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

MELAustralia/Melbourne — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
AKLPacific/Auckland — UTC+13 now; UTC+12 standard time, UTC+13 during daylight saving time
DifferenceAuckland is 2 hours ahead of Melbourne today.

Jet lag, flying MEL → AKL. 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

MEL Melbourne AirportMelbourne, Australia · longest runway 11,998 ft3,657 m AKL Auckland International AirportAuckland, New Zealand · longest runway 11,926 ft3,635 m

More routes from MEL and AKL

MELHBA Melbourne – Hobart 618 km384 mi · 1 h 45 min SYDMEL Sydney – Melbourne 706 km438 mi · 1 h 55 min MELPER Melbourne – Perth 2,700 km1,678 mi · 4 h 25 min MELSIN Melbourne – Singapore 6,033 km3,748 mi · 8 h 10 min DXBMEL Dubai – Melbourne 11,644 km7,235 mi · 13 h 50 min DFWMEL Dallas–Fort Worth – Melbourne 14,475 km8,995 mi · 18 h 15 min AKLWLG Auckland – Wellington 480 km298 mi · 1 h 35 min AKLNAN Auckland – Nadi (Fiji) 2,156 km1,340 mi · 3 h 30 min AKLPPT Auckland – Papeete (Tahiti) 4,094 km2,544 mi · 5 h 25 min AKLEZE Auckland – Buenos Aires 10,312 km6,408 mi · 12 h DXBAKL Dubai – Auckland 14,199 km8,823 mi · 16 h 30 min DOHAKL Doha – Auckland 14,534 km9,031 mi · 16 h 50 min

Routes of a similar length

GRUSCL São Paulo – Santiago 2,615 km1,625 mi · 4 h 15 min LGWJTR London – Santorini 2,610 km1,622 mi · 3 h 50 min JFKDEN New York – Denver 2,610 km1,622 mi · 4 h 20 min YYZCUN Toronto – Cancún 2,605 km1,618 mi · 4 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).