San Francisco to Hong Kong (SFO–HKG): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

SFO → HKG

14 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 309° (NW).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Hong Kong Sun 8 Nov, 16:50 local +1 day.

HKG → SFO

12 h 45 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 42° (NE).

Leave Hong Kong Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 06:45 local.

HKG-bound flights are the slower direction by about 130 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	11,128 km · 6,915 mi · 6,009 nmi
Initial heading	309° (NW) from SFO; 42° (NE) from HKG
Farthest from the equator	51.7°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crosses	the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip	56% 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
HKG	Asia/Hong_Kong — UTC+8 now; UTC+8 all year (no daylight saving time)
Difference	Hong Kong is 15 hours ahead of San Francisco today; +16 h in January and +15 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying SFO → HKG. The clock change is 15 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 9 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 9 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 9 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

HKG Hong Kong International AirportHong Kong, Hong Kong · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from SFO and HKG

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 HKGTPE Hong Kong – Taipei 806 km501 mi · 1 h 55 min HKGBKK Hong Kong – Bangkok 1,690 km1,050 mi · 3 h HKGSIN Hong Kong – Singapore 2,566 km1,594 mi · 4 h SYDHKG Sydney – Hong Kong 7,394 km4,595 mi · 9 h 35 min YVRHKG Vancouver – Hong Kong 10,269 km6,381 mi · 13 h 30 min JFKHKG New York – Hong Kong 12,970 km8,059 mi · 15 h 55 min

Routes of a similar length

EZEFCO Buenos Aires – Rome 11,156 km6,932 mi · 13 h 20 min JFKICN New York – Seoul 11,089 km6,890 mi · 13 h 55 min AUHJFK Abu Dhabi – New York 11,031 km6,854 mi · 14 h 35 min JNBSYD Johannesburg – Sydney 11,024 km6,850 mi · 12 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).

SFO San Francisco ⇄ HKG Hong Kong