JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

SFO San Francisco ⇄ CDG Paris

San Francisco International Airport (United States) and Charles de Gaulle International Airport (France): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,963 km5,569 mi4,839 nautical miles
SFO → CDG10 h 45 minestimated block time
CDG → SFO11 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change+8 hParis vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG)SFOSan FranciscoCDGParis
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

SFO → CDG

10 h 45 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 33° (NNE).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Paris Sun 8 Nov, 05:45 local +1 day.

CDG → SFO

11 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 319° (NW).

Leave Paris Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 12:50 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 65 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 distance8,963 km · 5,569 mi · 4,839 nmi
Initial heading33° (NNE) from SFO; 319° (NW) from CDG
Farthest from the equator64.4°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip45% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SFOAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
CDGEurope/Paris — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceParis is 8 hours ahead of San Francisco today.

Jet lag, flying SFO → CDG. 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

SFO San Francisco International AirportSan Francisco, United States · longest runway 11,870 ft3,618 m CDG Charles de Gaulle International AirportParis, France · longest runway 13,829 ft4,215 m

More routes from SFO and CDG

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 SFOPVG San Francisco – Shanghai 9,877 km6,138 mi · 13 h 20 min SFOSIN San Francisco – Singapore 13,582 km8,439 mi · 17 h 45 min LHRCDG London – Paris 348 km216 mi · 1 h 25 min CDGLIS Paris – Lisbon 1,470 km913 mi · 2 h 50 min YULCDG Montreal – Paris 5,524 km3,433 mi · 6 h 50 min CDGDEL Paris – Delhi 6,565 km4,080 mi · 7 h 55 min MEXCDG Mexico City – Paris 9,199 km5,716 mi · 10 h 45 min CDGSIN Paris – Singapore 10,724 km6,664 mi · 12 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

ISTHND Istanbul – Tokyo 8,959 km5,567 mi · 10 h 25 min LAXAMS Los Angeles – Amsterdam 8,956 km5,565 mi · 10 h 45 min FRABKK Frankfurt – Bangkok 9,000 km5,593 mi · 10 h 35 min YVRPVG Vancouver – Shanghai 9,016 km5,602 mi · 12 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).