JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

SFO San Francisco ⇄ ICN Seoul

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

Distance9,085 km5,645 mi4,906 nautical miles
SFO → ICN12 h 20 minestimated block time
ICN → SFO10 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+16 hSeoul vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Seoul (ICN)SFOSan FranciscoICNSeoul
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 → ICN

12 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 312° (NW).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Seoul Sun 8 Nov, 15:20 local +1 day.

ICN → SFO

10 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 48° (NE).

Leave Seoul Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 03:35 local.

ICN-bound flights are the slower direction by about 105 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 distance9,085 km · 5,645 mi · 4,906 nmi
Initial heading312° (NW) from SFO; 48° (NE) from ICN
Farthest from the equator53.7°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesthe 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
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
ICNAsia/Seoul — UTC+9 now; UTC+9 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceSeoul is 16 hours ahead of San Francisco today; +17 h in January and +16 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying SFO → ICN. The clock change is 16 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 8 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 8 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 8 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 ICN Incheon International AirportSeoul, South Korea · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from SFO and ICN

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 ICNKIX Seoul – Osaka 860 km535 mi · 1 h 55 min ICNHKG Seoul – Hong Kong 2,069 km1,286 mi · 3 h 30 min YVRICN Vancouver – Seoul 8,200 km5,095 mi · 11 h FRAICN Frankfurt – Seoul 8,544 km5,309 mi · 10 h 15 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min ATLICN Atlanta – Seoul 11,487 km7,138 mi · 14 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

LHRJNB London – Johannesburg 9,075 km5,639 mi · 11 h 10 min LAXCDG Los Angeles – Paris 9,103 km5,656 mi · 10 h 50 min MEXMAD Mexico City – Madrid 9,065 km5,633 mi · 10 h 30 min JFKTLV New York – Tel Aviv 9,117 km5,665 mi · 10 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).