MODO AVIÓN

Mexico City to Madrid flight path

MEX → MADMEXMAD
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 Mexico City to Madrid covers 5,630 miles (9,070 km) — about 10 h 55 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Mexico, the United States, Portugal and Spain. It crosses the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean: 89% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC−6 and land on UTC+2.

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From Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) · MEX · MAD

MEXMexico City
MADMadrid
Great-circle distance
9,070 km
Duration, no wind
10 h 55 min
Over water
89 %
Time difference today
+8 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 Mexico City to Madrid?

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

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Popocatépetl

To see Popocatépetl (5,420 m), sit on the right: it lies about 64 km from the route, ≈ 16 min into the flight.

Left window
  • Pachuca de Soto ≈ 20 min
  • Vigo ≈ 10 h 10 min
  • Valladolid ≈ 10 h 30 min
Right window
  • Popocatépetl (5,420 m) ≈ 16 min
  • Jacksonville ≈ 2 h 40 min
  • Porto ≈ 10 h 10 min
  • Pico Almanzor (2,592 m) ≈ 10 h 30 min

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

Leg by leg

2 h4 h6 h8 h10 hUTC−4UTC+1UTC+2UTC−6Gulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanAtlantic coastal plainPico Almanzor 2,592 m 69 kmJacksonville 73 kmValladolid 93 kmVigo 62 kmPorto 52 kmMEXMAD▲ Left window▼ Right window◀ Left windowRight window ▶2 h4 h6 h8 h10 hUTC−4UTC+1UTC+2Gulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanAtlantic coastal plainPachuca de Soto35 km off routeVigo62 km off routeValladolid93 km off routePopocatépetl5,420 m · 64 kmJacksonville73 km off routePorto52 km off routePico Almanzor2,592 m · 69 kmMEXMADUTC−6

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg
  1. Take-off from Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport
  2. Popocatépetl, 5,420 m — on the right, 64 km away7 km · ≈ 16 min into the flight
  3. Pachuca de Soto, Mexico — on the left, 35 km away76 km · ≈ 20 min into the flight
  4. Gulf of Mexico — 1,690 km without land272 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
  5. Local time below changes: UTC−6 to UTC−41,930 km · ≈ 2 h 30 min into the flight
  6. Below: Atlantic coastal plain1,960 km · ≈ 2 h 30 min into the flight
  7. Land again1,960 km · ≈ 2 h 30 min into the flight
  8. Jacksonville, United States — on the right, 73 km away2,130 km · ≈ 2 h 40 min into the flight
  9. Below: Sea Islands2,210 km · ≈ 2 h 45 min into the flight
  10. Atlantic Ocean — 6,380 km without land2,240 km · ≈ 2 h 50 min into the flight
  11. Local time below changes: UTC−4 to UTC+18,580 km · ≈ 10 h 05 min into the flight
  12. Vigo, Spain — on the left, 62 km away8,600 km · ≈ 10 h 10 min into the flight
  13. Below: Iberian Peninsula8,610 km · ≈ 10 h 10 min into the flight
  14. Land again8,610 km · ≈ 10 h 10 min into the flight
  15. Porto, Portugal — on the right, 52 km away8,640 km · ≈ 10 h 10 min into the flight
  16. Local time below changes: UTC+1 to UTC+28,790 km · ≈ 10 h 20 min into the flight
  17. Valladolid, Spain — on the left, 93 km away8,930 km · ≈ 10 h 30 min into the flight
  18. Pico Almanzor, 2,592 m — on the right, 69 km away8,930 km · ≈ 10 h 30 min into the flight
  19. Landing at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport9,070 km · ≈ 10 h 40 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 Madrid

Madrid
Madrid · Photo: Dmitry Dzhus from London · CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Flight time and distance

About 10 h 55 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.

5,630 miles (9,070 km, 4,890 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

kmTimeZone
0 kmUTC−6Mexico City
1,930 kmUTC−4New York
8,580 kmUTC+1Lisbon
8,790 kmUTC+2Madrid

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
  • Houston
  • Jacksonville
  • Washington
  • New York
  • Santa Maria
  • Lisboa
  • Madrid

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Mexico City to Madrid?

Along the shortest route, the flight from Mexico City to Madrid covers 5,630 miles (9,070 km) — about 10 h 55 min with no wind. It passes over or close to Mexico, the United States, Portugal and Spain. It crosses the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean: 89% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC−6 and land on UTC+2.

What countries do you fly over from Mexico City to Madrid?

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

How long is the flight from Mexico City to Madrid?

About 10 h 55 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 Mexico City from Madrid by plane?

5,630 miles (9,070 km, 4,890 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 8,070 km. The longest stretch without land is 6,380 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: Madrid → Mexico City

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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