Enter your departure date and time, flight duration, and the time zone difference to your destination to find your local arrival time.
This tool adds the flight duration to your departure time, then applies the time zone difference between departure and destination to give a local arrival time and date, accounting for any day change.
Departure date:
Departure time:
Flight duration (hours):
Destination time zone minus departure time zone (hours):
How It Works
This tool adds the flight duration to your departure time, then applies the time zone difference between departure and destination to give a local arrival time and date, accounting for any day change.
How to Use This Tool
- Enter your departure date and local departure time.
- Enter the flight duration in hours (decimals are fine, like 8.5 for 8 hours 30 minutes).
- Enter the destination’s time zone offset minus the departure time zone’s offset (a positive number if the destination is ahead).
- Click Calculate to see your local arrival date and time.
You will need to know the time zone difference in advance; a quick web search for both cities’ current UTC offsets makes this easy to fill in.
The Formula
Local arrival time = departure time + flight duration + (destination UTC offset − departure UTC offset)
Worked example (eastbound): you leave New York at 7:00 PM in summer, when New York is 4 hours behind UTC, and fly 7 hours to London, which is 1 hour ahead of UTC. The time zone difference is 1 − (−4) = +5 hours. Adding the flight time takes you to 2:00 AM New York time, and adding the 5 hours brings you to 7:00 AM the next day in London.
Worked example (westbound): you leave London at 10:00 AM and fly 8 hours to New York, and the difference is −5 hours. Ten AM plus 8 hours is 6:00 PM London time, and subtracting 5 gives 1:00 PM the same day in New York. Flying west often lets you land at what feels like an earlier time than you left.
Where to Find the Numbers
- Flight duration: Your ticket or airline app lists the scheduled flight time. Remember it is a schedule, and real flights can run longer or shorter.
- Time zone difference: Search for each city’s current UTC offset and subtract. Check the date, since offsets can change with daylight saving time.
- Half-hour zones: Some places, such as India, use an offset of 5.5 hours. The tool accepts decimals like 5.5 for those.
Planning Around Your Arrival
Knowing your local landing time helps with practical decisions: booking airport pickup, checking hotel check-in hours, telling a host when to expect you, and deciding whether public transport will still be running. Most airline tickets already show the arrival in local time, so use this calculator to double-check it or to plan a trip when you only know the duration. Many travelers also find it easier to adjust to a new time zone by setting their watch to the destination time as soon as they board.
Did You Know?
- Flying east typically feels like it “loses” hours locally (arriving later in the day than expected), while flying west can feel like it “gains” hours, purely due to crossing time zones.
- Some long-haul flights cross the International Date Line, which can make a flight appear to arrive the day before it departed, from the calendar’s perspective.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the destination is behind my departure time zone?
Enter a negative number for the time zone difference (for example, -3 if the destination is 3 hours behind).
Does this account for daylight saving time?
Only if you build it into the time zone difference you enter; the tool itself does not look up DST automatically.
Do I include layovers in the flight duration?
Yes, if you want the arrival at your final destination. Add the time in the air for each leg plus the layover time, or run the calculator once per leg and use each arrival as the next departure.
Why does the arrival day sometimes change?
Long flights and large time zone jumps can push the local arrival past midnight. The result shows the correct calendar date, so an overnight flight east often lands one day later than it left.
Which time zone should the departure time be in?
Use the local time at the departure airport, exactly as printed on your ticket. The time zone difference then handles the conversion to the destination.