JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

ORD Chicago ⇄ FRA Frankfurt

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (United States) and Frankfurt Main Airport (Germany): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance6,971 km4,331 mi3,764 nautical miles
ORD → FRA8 h 25 minestimated block time
FRA → ORD9 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+6 hFrankfurt vs Chicago, today
Great-circle route from Chicago (ORD) to Frankfurt (FRA)ORDChicagoFRAFrankfurt
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

ORD → FRA

8 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 46° (NE).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sun 8 Nov, 01:25 local +1 day.

FRA → ORD

9 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 304° (NW).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 12:35 local.

ORD-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 distance6,971 km · 4,331 mi · 3,764 nmi
Initial heading46° (NE) from ORD; 304° (NW) from FRA
Farthest from the equator57.7°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip35% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceFrankfurt is 6 hours ahead of Chicago today.

Jet lag, flying ORD → FRA. Your body clock has to move 6 hours earlier, like an eastward 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 earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from ORD and FRA

ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min JFKORD New York – Chicago 1,188 km738 mi · 2 h 35 min IAHORD Houston – Chicago 1,491 km926 mi · 2 h 40 min ORDLAS Chicago – Las Vegas 2,432 km1,511 mi · 4 h 10 min ORDDUB Chicago – Dublin 5,895 km3,663 mi · 7 h 15 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min FRABER Frankfurt – Berlin 431 km268 mi · 1 h 30 min FRADEL Frankfurt – Delhi 6,122 km3,804 mi · 7 h 25 min ATLFRA Atlanta – Frankfurt 7,409 km4,604 mi · 8 h 50 min IAHFRA Houston – Frankfurt 8,402 km5,221 mi · 9 h 55 min FRABKK Frankfurt – Bangkok 9,000 km5,593 mi · 10 h 35 min FRASIN Frankfurt – Singapore 10,280 km6,388 mi · 12 h 05 min

Routes of a similar length

LHRNAS London – Nassau 6,977 km4,335 mi · 9 h 40 min YYCLHR Calgary – London 7,014 km4,358 mi · 8 h 40 min ATLCDG Atlanta – Paris 7,056 km4,385 mi · 8 h 25 min ATLAMS Atlanta – Amsterdam 7,066 km4,390 mi · 8 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).