MODO AVIÓN

Cancún to Buenos Aires flight path

CUN → EZECUNEZE
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 Cancún to Buenos Aires covers 4,280 miles (6,890 km) — about 8 h 25 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It crosses the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean: 28% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC−5 and land on UTC−3.

Get Modo Avión for Android Share this route

From Cancún International Airport (CUN) to Ezeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini (EZE) · CUN · EZE

CUNCancún
EZEBuenos Aires
Great-circle distance
6,890 km
Duration, no wind
8 h 25 min
Over water
28 %
Time difference today
+2 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 Cancún to Buenos Aires?

  • Mexico
  • Honduras
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Brazil
  • Peru
  • Bolivia
  • Argentina
  • Caribbean Sea
  • Pacific Ocean

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Nevado Sajama

To see Nevado Sajama (6,542 m), sit on the right: it lies about 51 km from the route, ≈ 5 h 45 min into the flight.

Left window
  • Galeras (4,276 m) ≈ 3 h 05 min
  • Pasto ≈ 3 h 05 min
  • La Paz ≈ 5 h 35 min
Right window
  • Ausangate (6,372 m) ≈ 5 h 05 min
  • Nevado Sajama (6,542 m) ≈ 5 h 45 min
  • San Salvador de Jujuy ≈ 6 h 35 min
  • Salta ≈ 6 h 40 min
  • Santiago del Estero ≈ 7 h 05 min
  • Santa Fe ≈ 7 h 40 min
  • Rosario ≈ 7 h 50 min

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

Leg by leg

1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 hUTC−6UTC−5UTC−4UTC−3UTC−5Caribbean SeaCaribbean SeaPacific OceanAndesCordillera OrientalCordillera RealNevado Sajama 6,542 m 51 kmAusangate 6,372 m 73 kmGaleras 4,276 m 4 kmLa Paz 98 kmRosario 66 kmSalta 56 kmPasto 13 kmSanta Fe 2 kmSan Salvador de Jujuy 14 kmCUNEZE▲ Left window▼ Right window◀ Left windowRight window ▶1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 hUTC−6UTC−5UTC−4UTC−3Caribbean SeaAndesCordillera OrientalPampasGaleras4,276 m · 4 kmPasto13 km off routeLa Paz98 km off routeAusangate6,372 m · 73 kmNevado Sajama6,542 m · 51 kmSan Salvador de Jujuy14 km off routeSalta56 km off routeSantiago del Estero104 km off routeSanta Fe2 km off routeRosario66 km off routeCUNEZEUTC−5

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg
  1. Take-off from Cancún International Airport
  2. Below: Yucatan Peninsula0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
  3. Caribbean Sea — 644 km without land23 km · ≈ 17 min into the flight
  4. Local time below changes: UTC−5 to UTC−6621 km · ≈ 1 h 00 min into the flight
  5. Below: Mosquito Coast667 km · ≈ 1 h 00 min into the flight
  6. Land again667 km · ≈ 1 h 00 min into the flight
  7. Caribbean Sea — 644 km without land873 km · ≈ 1 h 15 min into the flight
  8. Local time below changes: UTC−6 to UTC−51,450 km · ≈ 1 h 55 min into the flight
  9. Below: Central America1,520 km · ≈ 2 h 00 min into the flight
  10. Below: Azuero Peninsula1,590 km · ≈ 2 h 05 min into the flight
  11. Water starts: Pacific Ocean1,680 km · ≈ 2 h 10 min into the flight
  12. Below: Andes2,300 km · ≈ 2 h 55 min into the flight
  13. Below: Cordillera Occidental2,320 km · ≈ 2 h 55 min into the flight
  14. Galeras, 4,276 m — on the left, 4 km away2,430 km · ≈ 3 h 05 min into the flight
  15. Pasto, Colombia — on the left, 13 km away2,440 km · ≈ 3 h 05 min into the flight
  16. Below: Amazon basin2,510 km · ≈ 3 h 10 min into the flight
  17. Below: Selva2,550 km · ≈ 3 h 10 min into the flight
  18. Below: Cordillera Oriental4,160 km · ≈ 5 h 00 min into the flight
  19. Ausangate, 6,372 m — on the right, 73 km away4,230 km · ≈ 5 h 05 min into the flight
  20. Below: Altiplano4,340 km · ≈ 5 h 15 min into the flight
  21. Local time below changes: UTC−5 to UTC−44,640 km · ≈ 5 h 35 min into the flight
  22. La Paz, Bolivia — on the left, 98 km away4,650 km · ≈ 5 h 35 min into the flight
  23. Nevado Sajama, 6,542 m — on the right, 51 km away4,770 km · ≈ 5 h 45 min into the flight
  24. Below: Salar de Uyuni4,990 km · ≈ 6 h 00 min into the flight
  25. Below: Cordillera Real5,220 km · ≈ 6 h 15 min into the flight
  26. Local time below changes: UTC−4 to UTC−35,310 km · ≈ 6 h 20 min into the flight
  27. San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina — on the right, 14 km away5,550 km · ≈ 6 h 35 min into the flight
  28. Salta, Argentina — on the right, 56 km away5,600 km · ≈ 6 h 40 min into the flight
  29. Below: Pampas5,770 km · ≈ 6 h 55 min into the flight
  30. Below: Chaco Austral5,880 km · ≈ 7 h 00 min into the flight
  31. Santiago del Estero, Argentina — on the right, 104 km away5,950 km · ≈ 7 h 05 min into the flight
  32. Santa Fe, Argentina — on the right, 2 km away6,490 km · ≈ 7 h 40 min into the flight
  33. Below: Entre Ríos6,500 km · ≈ 7 h 45 min into the flight
  34. Rosario, Argentina — on the right, 66 km away6,620 km · ≈ 7 h 50 min into the flight
  35. Landing at Ezeiza International Airport - Ministro Pistarini6,890 km · ≈ 8 h 10 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.

Get Modo Avión for Android

Free · no account · no ads · 28.4 MB · Android 8 or newer

How to install it (Spanish)

Arriving in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires · Photo: ProtoplasmaKid · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Flight time and distance

About 8 h 25 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.

4,280 miles (6,890 km, 3,720 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

kmTimeZone
0 kmUTC−5Cancun
621 kmUTC−6Tegucigalpa
1,450 kmUTC−5Panama
4,640 kmUTC−4La Paz
5,310 kmUTC−3Jujuy

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.

  • Mexico
  • Cenamer
  • Panama
  • Cali (Up To FL245)
  • Bogota
  • Guayaquil
  • Lima
  • Amazonico
  • Lima
  • La Paz
  • Cordoba
  • Ezeiza

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Cancún to Buenos Aires?

Along the shortest route, the flight from Cancún to Buenos Aires covers 4,280 miles (6,890 km) — about 8 h 25 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It crosses the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean: 28% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC−5 and land on UTC−3.

What countries do you fly over from Cancún to Buenos Aires?

It passes over or close to Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, and crosses the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.

How long is the flight from Cancún to Buenos Aires?

About 8 h 25 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 Cancún from Buenos Aires by plane?

4,280 miles (6,890 km, 3,720 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?

28% of the route, about 1,910 km. The longest stretch without land is 644 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: Buenos Aires → Cancún

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.

Follow this route offline Get the app