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Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro flight path

EZE → GIGEZEGIG
The shortest path on the sphere. On a flat map it looks curved; on the globe it is a straight line.

Along the shortest route, the flight from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro covers 1,240 miles (2,000 km) — about 2 h 50 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean: 38% of the route is over water.

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From Ezeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini (EZE) to Rio de Janeiro Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport (GIG) · EZE · GIG

EZEBuenos Aires
GIGRio de Janeiro
Great-circle distance
2,000 km
Duration, no wind
2 h 50 min
Over water
38 %
Time difference today
+0 h

The route drawn is the theoretical one — the shortest path on the sphere. The real aircraft follows airways, avoids storms and closed airspace, and rides the wind: it can be hundreds of kilometres off.

What countries do you fly over from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro?

  • Argentina
  • Uruguay
  • Brazil
  • Atlantic Ocean

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Morro da Boa Vista

To see Morro da Boa Vista (1,827 m), sit on the left: it lies about 11 km from the route, ≈ 1 h 35 min into the flight.

Left window
  • Caxias do Sul ≈ 1 h 20 min
  • Morro da Boa Vista (1,827 m) ≈ 1 h 35 min
  • Blumenau ≈ 1 h 40 min
  • Itajaí ≈ 1 h 45 min
Right window
  • Pelotas ≈ 1 h 00 min
  • Porto Alegre ≈ 1 h 15 min
  • Canoas ≈ 1 h 15 min
  • Gravataí ≈ 1 h 15 min
  • Novo Hamburgo ≈ 1 h 15 min
  • São José ≈ 1 h 40 min
  • Florianópolis ≈ 1 h 40 min

Left and right facing forward, on the theoretical route. Times are from take-off, with no wind.

Leg by leg

1 h2 hUTC−3Atlantic OceanPampasBrazilian HighlandsMorro da Boa Vista 1,827 m 11 kmPorto Alegre 32 kmFlorianópolis 9 kmCaxias do Sul 36 kmBlumenau 81 kmPelotas 106 kmCanoas 25 kmSão José 5 kmItajaí 55 kmGravataí 40 kmEZEGIG▲ Left window▼ Right window◀ Left windowRight window ▶1 h2 hAtlantic OceanPampasCaxias do Sul36 km off routeMorro da Boa Vista1,827 m · 11 kmBlumenau81 km off routeItajaí55 km off routePelotas106 km off routePorto Alegre32 km off routeCanoas25 km off routeGravataí40 km off routeNovo Hamburgo9 km off routeSão José5 km off routeEZEGIGUTC−3

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg
  1. Take-off from Ezeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini
  2. Below: Pampas0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
  3. Pelotas, Brazil — on the right, 106 km away660 km · ≈ 1 h 00 min into the flight
  4. Porto Alegre, Brazil — on the right, 32 km away867 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  5. Below: Brazilian Highlands871 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  6. Canoas, Brazil — on the right, 25 km away879 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  7. Gravataí, Brazil — on the right, 40 km away891 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  8. Novo Hamburgo, Brazil — on the right, 9 km away901 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  9. Below: Serra Geral911 km · ≈ 1 h 20 min into the flight
  10. Caxias do Sul, Brazil — on the left, 36 km away935 km · ≈ 1 h 20 min into the flight
  11. Below: Serra do Mar1,030 km · ≈ 1 h 25 min into the flight
  12. Morro da Boa Vista, 1,827 m — on the left, 11 km away1,140 km · ≈ 1 h 35 min into the flight
  13. São José, Brazil — on the right, 5 km away1,240 km · ≈ 1 h 40 min into the flight
  14. Florianópolis, Brazil — on the right, 9 km away1,240 km · ≈ 1 h 40 min into the flight
  15. Atlantic Ocean — 718 km without land1,240 km · ≈ 1 h 40 min into the flight
  16. Blumenau, Brazil — on the left, 81 km away1,260 km · ≈ 1 h 40 min into the flight
  17. Itajaí, Brazil — on the left, 55 km away1,290 km · ≈ 1 h 45 min into the flight
  18. Landing at Rio de Janeiro Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport2,000 km · ≈ 2 h 35 min into the flight

Times assume a typical jet speed, no wind and an on-time departure. Good for orientation, not for your watch.

Which side the sun, sunrise or sunset will be on

Enter the day and take-off time. Your phone does the maths: the sun's position on every leg of the route, relative to the nose of the aircraft.

Take-offLanding

Sky: light is daytime, amber is sunrise or sunset, dark is night. Left and Right show which side the sun is on for each leg.

Follow the route offline in airplane mode

All of this on board and with no signal: with your phone in airplane mode, Modo Avión shows where you are, what's below and how long is left. GPS still works, because it only listens to satellites.

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Arriving in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro · Photo: Rafael Rabello de Barros · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Flight time and distance

About 2 h 50 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.

1,240 miles (2,000 km, 1,080 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

kmTimeZone
0 kmUTC−3Buenos Aires

Airspace (FIRs) along the route

Each is a control region: when the aircraft crosses the boundary, the centre talking to the pilot changes. Boundaries are approximate, from the VATSIM data set, not the official ICAO chart.

  • Montevideo
  • Curitiba

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro?

Along the shortest route, the flight from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro covers 1,240 miles (2,000 km) — about 2 h 50 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean: 38% of the route is over water.

What countries do you fly over from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro?

It passes over or close to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, and crosses the Atlantic Ocean. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.

How long is the flight from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro?

About 2 h 50 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.

How far is Buenos Aires from Rio de Janeiro by plane?

1,240 miles (2,000 km, 1,080 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

How much of the flight is over water?

38% of the route, about 765 km. The longest stretch without land is 718 km.

Why doesn't the plane fly in a straight line on the map?

It does fly straight — on a sphere. On a flat map the shortest path looks curved; on the globe on this page it looks like what it is.

Does GPS work in airplane mode?

Yes. GPS is a receiver: it listens to satellites and transmits nothing, so it keeps working in airplane mode. What you won't have is a map unless you downloaded it; Modo Avión carries its own.

More routes

The way back: Rio de Janeiro → Buenos Aires

Look up another route

How this was calculated

The route is the great-circle arc between both airports, split into 300 points. At each point a point-in-polygon test runs against 1,102 airspace regions, 418 time zones and 1,338 physical geography regions. Countries are those with a town within 25 km of the route: in empty areas one may be missing. Cities named have over 250,000 people and lie within 110 km.

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