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Madrid to New York flight path

MAD → JFKMADJFK
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 Madrid to New York covers 3,580 miles (5,760 km) — about 7 h 05 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Spain, Portugal and the United States. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine: 89% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+2 and land on UTC−4.

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From Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) · MAD · JFK

MADMadrid
JFKNew York
Great-circle distance
5,760 km
Duration, no wind
7 h 05 min
Over water
89 %
Time difference today
−6 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 Madrid to New York?

  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • United States
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Gulf of Maine

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Pico Almanzor

To see Pico Almanzor (2,592 m), sit on the left: it lies about 84 km from the route, ≈ 25 min into the flight.

Left window
  • Pico Almanzor (2,592 m) ≈ 25 min
  • Porto ≈ 45 min
Right window
  • Valladolid ≈ 25 min
  • El Teleno (2,183 m) ≈ 35 min
  • Vigo ≈ 45 min
  • Boston ≈ 6 h 35 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 hUTC+1UTC+2UTC+1UTC+2UTC−4UTC+2Atlantic OceanIberian PeninsulaBoston 85 kmVigo 10 kmPorto 99 kmMADJFK▲ Left window▼ Right window◀ Left windowRight window ▶1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 hUTC+1UTC+2UTC+1UTC+2UTC−4Atlantic OceanIberian PeninsulaPico Almanzor2,592 m · 84 kmPorto99 km off routeValladolid78 km off routeEl Teleno2,183 m · 94 kmVigo10 km off routeBoston85 km off routeMADJFKUTC+2

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg
  1. Take-off from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport
  2. Below: Iberian Peninsula0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
  3. Pico Almanzor, 2,592 m — on the left, 84 km away123 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
  4. Valladolid, Spain — on the right, 78 km away141 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
  5. Local time below changes: UTC+2 to UTC+1269 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
  6. El Teleno, 2,183 m — on the right, 94 km away298 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
  7. Local time below changes: UTC+1 to UTC+2403 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
  8. Porto, Portugal — on the left, 99 km away419 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
  9. Local time below changes: UTC+2 to UTC+1422 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
  10. Local time below changes: UTC+1 to UTC+2461 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
  11. Vigo, Spain — on the right, 10 km away471 km · ≈ 45 min into the flight
  12. Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine — 4,930 km without land480 km · ≈ 50 min into the flight
  13. Local time below changes: UTC+2 to UTC−45,400 km · ≈ 6 h 25 min into the flight
  14. Land again5,410 km · ≈ 6 h 30 min into the flight
  15. Boston, United States — on the right, 85 km away5,480 km · ≈ 6 h 35 min into the flight
  16. Below: Long Island5,630 km · ≈ 6 h 45 min into the flight
  17. Landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport5,760 km · ≈ 6 h 50 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 New York

New York
New York · Photo: Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Flight time and distance

About 7 h 05 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.

3,580 miles (5,760 km, 3,110 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

kmTimeZone
0 kmUTC+2Madrid
269 kmUTC+1Lisbon
403 kmUTC+2Madrid
422 kmUTC+1Lisbon
461 kmUTC+2Madrid
5,400 kmUTC−4New York

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.

  • Madrid
  • Lisboa
  • Madrid
  • Lisboa
  • Madrid
  • Santa Maria
  • Shanwick Oceanic
  • Gander Oceanic
  • Moncton
  • Boston
  • New York

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Madrid to New York?

Along the shortest route, the flight from Madrid to New York covers 3,580 miles (5,760 km) — about 7 h 05 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Spain, Portugal and the United States. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine: 89% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC+2 and land on UTC−4.

What countries do you fly over from Madrid to New York?

It passes over or close to Spain, Portugal and the United States, and crosses the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.

How long is the flight from Madrid to New York?

About 7 h 05 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 Madrid from New York by plane?

3,580 miles (5,760 km, 3,110 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?

89% of the route, about 5,130 km. The longest stretch without land is 4,930 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: New York → Madrid

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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