JetSetAuthority

Route · Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America

MEX Mexico City ⇄ TIJ Tijuana

Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (Mexico) and General Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport (Mexico): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance2,301 km1,430 mi1,243 nautical miles
MEX → TIJ3 h 50 minestimated block time
TIJ → MEX3 h 30 minestimated block time
Clock change−1 hTijuana vs Mexico City, today
Great-circle route from Mexico City (MEX) to Tijuana (TIJ)MEXMexico CityTIJTijuana
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

MEX → TIJ

3 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 313° (NW).

Leave Mexico City Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Tijuana Sat 7 Nov, 11:50 local.

TIJ → MEX

3 h 30 min

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

Leave Tijuana Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Mexico City Sat 7 Nov, 15:30 local.

TIJ-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 distance2,301 km · 1,430 mi · 1,243 nmi
Initial heading313° (NW) from MEX; 125° (SE) from TIJ
Farthest from the equator32.5°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip11% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

MEXAmerica/Mexico_City — UTC−6 now; UTC−6 all year (no daylight saving time)
TIJAmerica/Tijuana — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
DifferenceTijuana is 1 hour behind Mexico City 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 MEX → TIJ. Your body clock has to move 1 hour later, like a westward 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

MEX Mexico City Benito Juárez International AirportMexico City, Mexico · longest runway 12,966 ft3,952 m TIJ General Abelardo L. Rodriguez International AirportTijuana, Mexico · longest runway 9,711 ft2,960 m

More routes from MEX and TIJ

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

BNEAKL Brisbane – Auckland 2,295 km1,426 mi · 3 h 30 min LHRRAK London – Marrakesh 2,294 km1,426 mi · 3 h 45 min ORDPHX Chicago – Phoenix 2,313 km1,437 mi · 3 h 55 min SEAANC Seattle – Anchorage 2,326 km1,445 mi · 3 h 50 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).