San Francisco to Sydney (SFO–SYD): distance and flight time

Flight time each way

SFO → SYD

15 h 10 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 240° (WSW).

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

SYD → SFO

14 h 10 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 56° (NE).

Leave Sydney Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 05:10 local.

SYD-bound flights are the slower direction by about 60 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	11,950 km · 7,425 mi · 6,452 nmi
Initial heading	240° (WSW) from SFO; 56° (NE) from SYD
Farthest from the equator	37.6°N
Crosses	the equator and the 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip	60% 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
SYD	Australia/Sydney — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
Difference	Sydney is 18 hours ahead of San Francisco today; +19 h in January and +17 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying SFO → SYD. The clock change is 18 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 6 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 6 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 6 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

SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith International AirportSydney, Australia · longest runway 12,999 ft3,962 m

More routes from SFO and SYD

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 SYDCBR Sydney – Canberra 236 km147 mi · 1 h 20 min SYDCHC Sydney – Christchurch 2,126 km1,321 mi · 3 h 15 min SYDMNL Sydney – Manila 6,263 km3,892 mi · 8 h 20 min HNLSYD Honolulu – Sydney 8,170 km5,077 mi · 10 h 35 min DXBSYD Dubai – Sydney 12,043 km7,483 mi · 14 h 15 min LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

LAXMNL Los Angeles – Manila 11,740 km7,295 mi · 15 h 40 min DXBGRU Dubai – São Paulo 12,217 km7,591 mi · 15 h 20 min LAXHKG Los Angeles – Hong Kong 11,664 km7,248 mi · 15 h 30 min DXBMEL Dubai – Melbourne 11,644 km7,235 mi · 13 h 50 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 ⇄ SYD Sydney