JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

SEA Seattle ⇄ AMS Amsterdam

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (United States) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance7,840 km4,872 mi4,233 nautical miles
SEA → AMS9 h 40 minestimated block time
AMS → SEA10 h 15 minestimated block time
Clock change+8 hAmsterdam vs Seattle, today
Great-circle route from Seattle (SEA) to Amsterdam (AMS)SEASeattleAMSAmsterdam
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

SEA → AMS

9 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 31° (NNE).

Leave Seattle Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Amsterdam Sun 8 Nov, 04:40 local +1 day.

AMS → SEA

10 h 15 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 325° (NW).

Leave Amsterdam Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Seattle Sat 7 Nov, 11:15 local.

SEA-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 minutes in our estimate: the route runs partly 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 distance7,840 km · 4,872 mi · 4,233 nmi
Initial heading31° (NNE) from SEA; 325° (NW) from AMS
Farthest from the equator69.5°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip39% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SEAAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
AMSEurope/Amsterdam — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceAmsterdam is 8 hours ahead of Seattle today.

Jet lag, flying SEA → AMS. Your body clock has to move 8 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 8 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

SEA Seattle–Tacoma International AirportSeattle, United States · longest runway 11,901 ft3,627 m AMS Amsterdam Airport SchipholAmsterdam, Netherlands · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from SEA and AMS

SFOSEA San Francisco – Seattle 1,093 km679 mi · 2 h 20 min SEADEN Seattle – Denver 1,645 km1,022 mi · 2 h 45 min SEAORD Seattle – Chicago 2,762 km1,716 mi · 3 h 55 min SEAKEF Seattle – Reykjavík 5,811 km3,611 mi · 7 h 25 min SEAHND Seattle – Tokyo 7,711 km4,792 mi · 10 h 35 min SINSEA Singapore – Seattle 12,979 km8,065 mi · 15 h LHRAMS London – Amsterdam 370 km230 mi · 1 h 25 min AMSBCN Amsterdam – Barcelona 1,241 km771 mi · 2 h 30 min AMSATH Amsterdam – Athens 2,182 km1,356 mi · 3 h 20 min DTWAMS Detroit – Amsterdam 6,324 km3,929 mi · 7 h 45 min ATLAMS Atlanta – Amsterdam 7,066 km4,390 mi · 8 h 30 min AMSSIN Amsterdam – Singapore 10,514 km6,533 mi · 12 h 20 min

Routes of a similar length

HELHND Helsinki – Tokyo 7,825 km4,862 mi · 9 h 35 min SYDHND Sydney – Tokyo 7,818 km4,858 mi · 10 h MANCUN Manchester – Cancún 7,794 km4,843 mi · 10 h 40 min FRAPEK Frankfurt – Beijing 7,789 km4,840 mi · 9 h 20 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).