JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

SFO San Francisco ⇄ HNL Honolulu

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

Distance3,857 km2,397 mi2,083 nautical miles
SFO → HNL5 h 50 minestimated block time
HNL → SFO5 h 10 minestimated block time
Clock change−3 hHonolulu vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL)SFOSan FranciscoHNLHonolulu
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 → HNL

5 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 252° (WSW).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Honolulu Sat 7 Nov, 13:50 local.

HNL → SFO

5 h 10 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 54° (NE).

Leave Honolulu Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 17:10 local.

HNL-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 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 distance3,857 km · 2,397 mi · 2,083 nmi
Initial heading252° (WSW) from SFO; 54° (NE) from HNL
Farthest from the equator37.6°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip19% 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
HNLPacific/Honolulu — UTC−10 now; UTC−10 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceHonolulu is 3 hours behind San Francisco today; −2 h in January and −3 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying SFO → HNL. Your body clock has to move 3 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 3 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 HNL Daniel K. Inouye International AirportHonolulu, United States · longest runway 12,360 ft3,767 m

More routes from SFO and HNL

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 SFOBOS San Francisco – Boston 4,341 km2,697 mi · 5 h 30 min SFOAMS San Francisco – Amsterdam 8,785 km5,459 mi · 10 h 35 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 HNLOGG Honolulu – Maui (Kahului) 162 km101 mi · 1 h 15 min SEAHNL Seattle – Honolulu 4,308 km2,677 mi · 6 h 20 min HNLANC Honolulu – Anchorage 4,475 km2,781 mi · 6 h 05 min HNLHND Honolulu – Tokyo 6,191 km3,847 mi · 8 h 45 min HNLICN Honolulu – Seoul 7,353 km4,569 mi · 10 h 15 min HNLSYD Honolulu – Sydney 8,170 km5,077 mi · 10 h 35 min

Routes of a similar length

BOSKEF Boston – Reykjavík 3,875 km2,408 mi · 5 h 15 min JFKSEA New York – Seattle 3,887 km2,415 mi · 5 h 55 min SINPVG Singapore – Shanghai 3,806 km2,365 mi · 5 h 15 min PERSIN Perth – Singapore 3,911 km2,430 mi · 5 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).