JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

SFO San Francisco ⇄ FRA Frankfurt

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

Distance9,149 km5,685 mi4,940 nautical miles
SFO → FRA11 hestimated block time
FRA → SFO11 h 55 minestimated block time
Clock change+8 hFrankfurt vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Frankfurt (FRA)SFOSan FranciscoFRAFrankfurt
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 → FRA

11 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 29° (NNE).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sun 8 Nov, 06:00 local +1 day.

FRA → SFO

11 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 323° (NW).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 12:55 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 55 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 distance9,149 km · 5,685 mi · 4,940 nmi
Initial heading29° (NNE) from SFO; 323° (NW) from FRA
Farthest from the equator67.2°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip46% 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
FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceFrankfurt is 8 hours ahead of San Francisco today.

Jet lag, flying SFO → FRA. 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 FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from SFO and FRA

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 FRABER Frankfurt – Berlin 431 km268 mi · 1 h 30 min FRADEL Frankfurt – Delhi 6,122 km3,804 mi · 7 h 25 min ORDFRA Chicago – Frankfurt 6,971 km4,331 mi · 8 h 25 min DFWFRA Dallas–Fort Worth – Frankfurt 8,258 km5,131 mi · 9 h 50 min FRAPVG Frankfurt – Shanghai 8,859 km5,505 mi · 10 h 30 min FRASIN Frankfurt – Singapore 10,280 km6,388 mi · 12 h 05 min

Routes of a similar length

EWRTLV Newark – Tel Aviv 9,141 km5,680 mi · 10 h 35 min JFKTLV New York – Tel Aviv 9,117 km5,665 mi · 10 h 35 min LAXCDG Los Angeles – Paris 9,103 km5,656 mi · 10 h 50 min MEXCDG Mexico City – Paris 9,199 km5,716 mi · 10 h 45 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).