JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

YVR Vancouver ⇄ NRT Tokyo

Vancouver International Airport (Canada) and Narita International Airport (Japan): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance7,503 km4,662 mi4,051 nautical miles
YVR → NRT10 h 20 minestimated block time
NRT → YVR8 h 55 minestimated block time
Clock change+16 hTokyo vs Vancouver, today
Great-circle route from Vancouver (YVR) to Tokyo (NRT)YVRVancouverNRTTokyo
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

YVR → NRT

10 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 299° (WNW).

Leave Vancouver Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Tokyo Sun 8 Nov, 12:20 local +1 day.

NRT → YVR

8 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 45° (NE).

Leave Tokyo Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Vancouver Sat 7 Nov, 02:55 local.

NRT-bound flights are the slower direction by about 80 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 distance7,503 km · 4,662 mi · 4,051 nmi
Initial heading299° (WNW) from YVR; 45° (NE) from NRT
Farthest from the equator55.2°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesthe 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip37% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

YVRAmerica/Vancouver — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
NRTAsia/Tokyo — UTC+9 now; UTC+9 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceTokyo is 16 hours ahead of Vancouver 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 YVR → NRT. 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

YVR Vancouver International AirportVancouver, Canada · longest runway 11,500 ft3,505 m NRT Narita International AirportTokyo, Japan · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

Same cities, other airports

YVRHND Vancouver – Tokyo 7,558 km4,697 mi · 10 h 25 min

More routes from YVR and NRT

YYCYVR Calgary – Vancouver 687 km427 mi · 1 h 55 min YYZYVR Toronto – Vancouver 3,346 km2,079 mi · 5 h 15 min YVRHND Vancouver – Tokyo 7,558 km4,697 mi · 10 h 25 min YVRLHR Vancouver – London 7,579 km4,709 mi · 9 h 20 min YVRPVG Vancouver – Shanghai 9,016 km5,602 mi · 12 h YVRSYD Vancouver – Sydney 12,501 km7,768 mi · 15 h 50 min ICNNRT Seoul – Tokyo 1,257 km781 mi · 2 h 20 min PVGNRT Shanghai – Tokyo 1,796 km1,116 mi · 2 h 55 min HKGNRT Hong Kong – Tokyo 2,962 km1,841 mi · 4 h 10 min HNLNRT Honolulu – Tokyo 6,136 km3,813 mi · 8 h 40 min LAXNRT Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,753 km5,439 mi · 12 h 05 min JFKNRT New York – Tokyo 10,830 km6,729 mi · 13 h 50 min

Routes of a similar length

DENLHR Denver – London 7,497 km4,658 mi · 9 h 05 min ISTJNB Istanbul – Johannesburg 7,496 km4,658 mi · 9 h 35 min ATLGRU Atlanta – São Paulo 7,510 km4,667 mi · 9 h 25 min ISTBKK Istanbul – Bangkok 7,514 km4,669 mi · 9 h

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).