JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

ORD Chicago ⇄ MUC Munich

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

Distance7,270 km4,517 mi3,925 nautical miles
ORD → MUC8 h 45 minestimated block time
MUC → ORD10 hestimated block time
Clock change+6 hMunich vs Chicago, today
Great-circle route from Chicago (ORD) to Munich (MUC)ORDChicagoMUCMunich
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 → MUC

8 h 45 min

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

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Munich Sun 8 Nov, 01:45 local +1 day.

MUC → ORD

10 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 306° (NW).

Leave Munich Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 13:00 local.

ORD-bound flights are the slower direction by about 75 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 distance7,270 km · 4,517 mi · 3,925 nmi
Initial heading46° (NE) from ORD; 306° (NW) from MUC
Farthest from the equator57.6°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip36% 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
MUCEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceMunich is 6 hours ahead of Chicago today.

Jet lag, flying ORD → MUC. 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 MUC Munich AirportMunich, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from ORD and MUC

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 MUCBER Munich – Berlin 462 km287 mi · 1 h 35 min HAMMUC Hamburg – Munich 600 km373 mi · 1 h 45 min LHRMUC London – Munich 941 km585 mi · 2 h JFKMUC New York – Munich 6,481 km4,027 mi · 7 h 50 min LAXMUC Los Angeles – Munich 9,616 km5,975 mi · 11 h 25 min

Routes of a similar length

LHRBOM London – Mumbai 7,213 km4,482 mi · 8 h 40 min HNLICN Honolulu – Seoul 7,353 km4,569 mi · 10 h 15 min MIACDG Miami – Paris 7,372 km4,580 mi · 8 h 45 min SYDHKG Sydney – Hong Kong 7,394 km4,595 mi · 9 h 35 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).