How Long Is the Flight to Spain?

Quick answer: the flight to Spain (Madrid) is about 7 h 23 min in the air from New York and 11 h 39 min from Los Angeles, non-stop; a connection adds its layover. Of the busiest US airports, Boston is the closest at 7 h 3 min and Los Angeles the farthest at 11 h 39 min. Flying home from New York JFK is 41 min longer.

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 Madrid: 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 Spain 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 Spain’s time minus the airport’s, in January and in July.

From	Distance	To Madrid	Flight back	Clock change (Jan / Jul)
Boston (BOS)	3,401 mi	7 h 3 min	7 h 42 min	+6 h / +6 h
New York JFK (JFK)	3,579 mi	7 h 23 min	8 h 4 min	+6 h / +6 h
Newark (EWR)	3,597 mi	7 h 25 min	8 h 6 min	+6 h / +6 h
Detroit (DTW)	3,978 mi	8 h 7 min	8 h 51 min	+6 h / +6 h
Charlotte (CLT)	4,098 mi	8 h 21 min	9 h 8 min	+6 h / +6 h
Chicago O’Hare (ORD)	4,191 mi	8 h 31 min	9 h 17 min	+7 h / +7 h
Minneapolis (MSP)	4,320 mi	8 h 46 min	9 h 31 min	+7 h / +7 h
Atlanta (ATL)	4,325 mi	8 h 47 min	9 h 35 min	+6 h / +6 h
Orlando (MCO)	4,365 mi	8 h 52 min	9 h 41 min	+6 h / +6 h
Fort Lauderdale (FLL)	4,398 mi	8 h 55 min	9 h 45 min	+6 h / +6 h
Miami (MIA)	4,415 mi	8 h 57 min	9 h 47 min	+6 h / +6 h
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)	4,954 mi	9 h 58 min	10 h 50 min	+7 h / +7 h
Houston (IAH)	4,995 mi	10 h 2 min	10 h 56 min	+7 h / +7 h
Denver (DEN)	4,997 mi	10 h 3 min	10 h 53 min	+8 h / +8 h
Seattle (SEA)	5,295 mi	10 h 39 min	11 h 23 min	+9 h / +9 h
Phoenix (PHX)	5,594 mi	11 h 11 min	12 h 5 min	+8 h / +9 h
Las Vegas (LAS)	5,597 mi	11 h 12 min	12 h 4 min	+9 h / +9 h
San Francisco (SFO)	5,797 mi	11 h 36 min	12 h 26 min	+9 h / +9 h
Los Angeles (LAX)	5,832 mi	11 h 39 min	12 h 32 min	+9 h / +9 h

7 of these routes 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 longer

From New York JFK the flight to Madrid is about 7 h 23 min and the flight back 8 h 4 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

Spain is 6 hours ahead of New York and 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year. Leave New York JFK at noon on Wednesday, July 15, and a non-stop would land in Madrid at about 1:23 a.m. the next day, Thursday, local time.

Flying into another airport

This page measures to Madrid (MAD). To Barcelona (BCN) it is about 7 h 50 min from New York and 12 h 1 min from Los Angeles.

Is there a non-stop?

Which US airports fly to Spain non-stop changes with the airlines’ schedules, so this page does not list them: What US cities have direct flights to Madrid? does. For any pair of airports, the calculator above gives the distance and the time.

Plan it

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FAQ

How long is the flight to Spain?

About 7 h 23 min non-stop from New York and 11 h 39 min from Los Angeles. Of the busiest US airports, Boston is the closest at 7 h 3 min and Los Angeles the farthest at 11 h 39 min. All are estimates of a non-stop; a connection adds its layover.

How long is the flight to Spain from New York?

About 7 h 23 min from JFK and 7 h 25 min from Newark, for 3,579 miles to Madrid. The flight back to New York is 41 min longer: about 8 h 4 min.

How long is the flight to Spain from Los Angeles?

About 11 h 39 min from LAX, and 11 h 36 min from San Francisco, for 5,832 miles. The flight back is 53 min longer: about 12 h 32 min.

What is the time difference between Spain and the US?

Spain is 6 hours ahead of New York and 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles all year.

Is there a direct flight to Spain?

From some US cities, yes — which ones changes with the airlines’ schedules, so this page does not list them. Our post What US cities have direct flights to Madrid? does, and your airline’s schedule is the final word.

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.