San Francisco to Auckland (SFO–AKL): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

SFO → AKL

13 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 225° (SW).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Auckland Sun 8 Nov, 20:25 local +1 day.

AKL → SFO

12 h 40 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 45° (NE).

Leave Auckland Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 01:40 local.

AKL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 45 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 distance	10,510 km · 6,530 mi · 5,675 nmi
Initial heading	225° (SW) from SFO; 45° (NE) from AKL
Farthest from the equator	37.6°N
Crosses	the equator and the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip	53% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SFO	America/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
AKL	Pacific/Auckland — UTC+13 now; UTC+12 standard time, UTC+13 during daylight saving time
Difference	Auckland is 20 hours ahead of San Francisco today; +21 h in January and +19 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying SFO → AKL. The clock change is 20 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 4 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 4 hours later, like a westward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 4 days to fully adjust. Shifting later (as here) is usually the easier direction; evening daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

SFO San Francisco International AirportSan Francisco, United States · longest runway 11,870 ft3,618 m

AKL Auckland International AirportAuckland, New Zealand · longest runway 11,926 ft3,635 m

More routes from SFO and AKL

LAXSFO Los Angeles – San Francisco 543 km338 mi · 1 h 45 min SFOORD San Francisco – Chicago 2,964 km1,842 mi · 4 h 05 min JFKSFO New York – San Francisco 4,152 km2,580 mi · 6 h 20 min SFOLHR San Francisco – London 8,616 km5,354 mi · 10 h 20 min SFOPEK San Francisco – Beijing 9,494 km5,899 mi · 12 h 40 min SFOSIN San Francisco – Singapore 13,582 km8,439 mi · 17 h 45 min AKLWLG Auckland – Wellington 480 km298 mi · 1 h 35 min AKLNAN Auckland – Nadi (Fiji) 2,156 km1,340 mi · 3 h 30 min MELAKL Melbourne – Auckland 2,637 km1,639 mi · 3 h 45 min HNLAKL Honolulu – Auckland 7,089 km4,405 mi · 9 h 15 min 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

AMSSIN Amsterdam – Singapore 10,514 km6,533 mi · 12 h 20 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min SYDDEL Sydney – Delhi 10,435 km6,484 mi · 13 h 20 min LAXPVG Los Angeles – Shanghai 10,415 km6,472 mi · 14 h

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).

SFO San Francisco ⇄ AKL Auckland