Flight Time Zone Calculator
When you cross time zones on a flight, the local clock time at your destination will differ from what you might expect simply by adding the flight duration to your departure time. This calculator converts your departure time to UTC, adds your flight duration, then converts back to local time at your destination using the destination's UTC offset. Enter your departure time, the UTC offsets for both cities, and the flight duration to get the precise local arrival time.
Time zone conversion formula
UTC departure = Local departure time - Departure UTC offset
UTC arrival = UTC departure + Flight duration
Local arrival = UTC arrival + Destination UTC offset
All calculations use standard UTC offset arithmetic. UTC offsets range from UTC-12:00 (Baker Island) to UTC+14:00 (Line Islands, Kiribati). Half-hour offsets (e.g. India at UTC+5:30, Newfoundland at UTC-3:30) can be entered as decimals such as 5.5 or -3.5.
Common UTC offsets for major cities
- New York: UTC-5 (EST, winter) or UTC-4 (EDT, summer)
- London: UTC+0 (GMT, winter) or UTC+1 (BST, summer)
- Paris, Berlin, Rome: UTC+1 (CET, winter) or UTC+2 (CEST, summer)
- Dubai: UTC+4 (no daylight saving)
- Mumbai, Delhi: UTC+5.5 (IST, no daylight saving)
- Tokyo, Seoul: UTC+9 (no daylight saving)
- Sydney: UTC+10 (AEST, winter) or UTC+11 (AEDT, summer)
- Los Angeles: UTC-8 (PST, winter) or UTC-7 (PDT, summer)
Flight time zone calculator: frequently asked questions
How do I calculate local arrival time from a flight?
To calculate local arrival time: convert your departure time to UTC by subtracting the departure UTC offset, add the flight duration in hours and minutes to get UTC arrival time, then add the destination UTC offset. This gives you the local clock time at your destination when you land.
What is a UTC offset?
A UTC offset is the difference in hours (and sometimes half-hours) between a location's local time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For example, New York is UTC-5 in winter (EST) and UTC-4 in summer (EDT). London is UTC+0 in winter (GMT) and UTC+1 in summer (BST).
Does the calculator account for daylight saving time?
This calculator uses UTC offsets you enter manually. You must enter the correct offset for the time of year, accounting for daylight saving time in both the departure and destination countries. Check the current UTC offset for your locations before entering it.
Can a flight arrive the next day or even a day earlier?
Yes. Very long eastward flights can arrive two calendar days later, while some westward transpacific flights cross the International Date Line and arrive the same calendar day or even the previous day relative to departure. The calculator shows the arrival date offset in days relative to your departure date.
How do layovers affect arrival time?
This calculator computes direct flight arrival time. For itineraries with layovers, add the layover duration to the total elapsed time (flight time plus all layover hours) and apply the same UTC offset calculation using the final destination's offset.
Official sources
- IANA Time Zone Database (used by all major operating systems): iana.org/time-zones.
- NIST Time and Frequency Division: nist.gov time and frequency.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 14 June 2026. See our methodology.