How Long Is the Flight to South Korea?

Quick answer: the flight to South Korea (Seoul Incheon) is about 14 h 19 min in the air from New York and 12 h 49 min from Los Angeles, non-stop; a connection adds its layover. Of the busiest US airports, Seattle is the closest at 11 h 17 min and Miami the farthest at 16 h 3 min. Flying home from Los Angeles is 56 min shorter.

Pick two airports. See the distance, about how long a non-stop flight takes, and what time it will be when you land.

JFK → LHR · non-stop

7 h 11 minAbout 7 h 11 min gate to gate for 3,442 miles (5,540 km). Most scheduled flights of this length: 6 h 56 min to 7 h 26 min.

Distance: 3,442 mi
Lands: pick a date and time

The flight back, westbound into the jet stream, is slower: about 7 h 48 min.
An estimate from the scheduled times of 5,797 US routes (US DOT, 2026-06): half of them are within 7 minutes of it. Your airline’s schedule is the real answer.

Airports from OurAirports, time zones from mwgg/Airports, flight times fitted on US DOT schedules. An estimate for a non-stop: check your airline.

The calculator above opens on New York to Seoul Incheon: change either airport to yours, or add a date and a departure time for the local time you land. Below, the flight from each of the busiest US airports.

How long is the flight to South Korea from each US airport?

The FAA’s busiest US airports by passengers in 2024, the quickest first. Times are the estimated gate-to-gate time of a non-stop; the clock change is South Korea’s time minus the airport’s, in January and in July.

From	Distance	To Seoul Incheon	Flight back	Clock change (Jan / Jul)
Seattle (SEA)	5,203 mi	11 h 17 min	10 h 30 min	+17 h / +16 h
San Francisco (SFO)	5,645 mi	12 h 9 min	11 h 16 min	+17 h / +16 h
Los Angeles (LAX)	5,981 mi	12 h 49 min	11 h 53 min	+17 h / +16 h
Las Vegas (LAS)	6,008 mi	12 h 51 min	11 h 58 min	+17 h / +16 h
Denver (DEN)	6,189 mi	13 h 10 min	12 h 22 min	+16 h / +15 h
Minneapolis (MSP)	6,233 mi	13 h 11 min	12 h 33 min	+15 h / +14 h
Phoenix (PHX)	6,263 mi	13 h 21 min	12 h 26 min	+16 h / +16 h
Chicago O’Hare (ORD)	6,536 mi	13 h 44 min	13 h 9 min	+15 h / +14 h
Detroit (DTW)	6,620 mi	13 h 52 min	13 h 20 min	+14 h / +13 h
Boston (BOS)	6,813 mi	14 h 8 min	13 h 48 min	+14 h / +13 h
Newark (EWR)	6,881 mi	14 h 18 min	13 h 54 min	+14 h / +13 h
New York JFK (JFK)	6,890 mi	14 h 19 min	13 h 55 min	+14 h / +13 h
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)	6,827 mi	14 h 23 min	13 h 34 min	+15 h / +14 h
Houston (IAH)	7,050 mi	14 h 49 min	13 h 59 min	+15 h / +14 h
Charlotte (CLT)	7,117 mi	14 h 50 min	14 h 16 min	+14 h / +13 h
Atlanta (ATL)	7,138 mi	14 h 54 min	14 h 16 min	+14 h / +13 h
Orlando (MCO)	7,542 mi	15 h 41 min	15 h 2 min	+14 h / +13 h
Fort Lauderdale (FLL)	7,719 mi	16 h 2 min	15 h 22 min	+14 h / +13 h
Miami (MIA)	7,734 mi	16 h 3 min	15 h 23 min	+14 h / +13 h

Every route are longer than any US route the estimate was measured on (4,983 miles), so treat those as a rough guide: the longer the flight, the more the wind moves it. LaGuardia, the 19th busiest, is left out: its flights are short-haul, and New York’s long flights leave from JFK and Newark.

Why the flight home is shorter

From Los Angeles the flight to Seoul Incheon is about 12 h 49 min and the flight back 11 h 53 min. The difference is the jet stream, the band of west-to-east wind at cruising height: flying east you ride it, flying west you fly into it. The estimate carries that as a single measured effect of how far east a route goes, which is why the two directions of the same route differ.

What the clock says when you land

South Korea is 14 hours ahead of New York in January and 13 hours ahead of New York in July, when US clocks are on summer time; 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles in January and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles in July. Leave Los Angeles at noon on Wednesday, July 15, and a non-stop would land in Seoul Incheon at about 4:49 p.m. the next day, Thursday, local time.

Is there a non-stop?

Not from every airport in the table: the times are what a non-stop would take, and a connection adds its layover. Your airline’s schedule says which airports fly to South Korea non-stop. For any pair of airports, the calculator above gives the distance and the time.

Plan it

FAQ

How long is the flight to South Korea?

About 14 h 19 min non-stop from New York and 12 h 49 min from Los Angeles. Of the busiest US airports, Seattle is the closest at 11 h 17 min and Miami the farthest at 16 h 3 min. All are estimates of a non-stop; a connection adds its layover.

How long is the flight to South Korea from New York?

About 14 h 19 min from JFK and 14 h 18 min from Newark, for 6,890 miles to Seoul Incheon. The flight back to New York is 24 min shorter: about 13 h 55 min.

How long is the flight to South Korea from Los Angeles?

About 12 h 49 min from LAX, and 12 h 9 min from San Francisco, for 5,981 miles. The flight back is 56 min shorter: about 11 h 53 min.

What is the time difference between South Korea and the US?

How these times are made

Distances are great circles between the airports (OurAirports). Times come from one line fitted to the median scheduled gate-to-gate time of 5,797 US routes (US DOT, 2026-06): a fixed allowance, a time per mile, and a correction for how far east the route goes. Half of those routes are within 7 minutes of it. The busiest airports are the FAA’s 2024 passenger boardings. Your airline’s schedule is the real answer: winds, routings and the season move it by a few minutes on a short flight and by more on a long one.