Are there any airlines that fly a route that has an arrival time earlier than its departure time? [on hold]











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Imagine the scenario where an airline flys a short 30 minute route which crosses a timezone going west. They could theoretically leave at 00:15 (local) and arrive at 23:45 local the previous day. I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route.



P.S. I'm specifically interested in how the airline allows booking such a flight and the UI that is presented, but am leaving this question more general for any flights that do this.



P.P.S. If someone could help with the tags for this question, it'd be much appreciated.










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put on hold as off-topic by fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin Nov 29 at 3:16


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "This question does not appear to be about aviation, within the scope defined in the help center." – fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.









  • 1




    hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
    – mins
    Nov 28 at 18:07






  • 1




    travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
    – Michael Lugo
    Nov 28 at 20:20










  • Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
    – Sandy Chapman
    Nov 29 at 19:48















up vote
4
down vote

favorite












Imagine the scenario where an airline flys a short 30 minute route which crosses a timezone going west. They could theoretically leave at 00:15 (local) and arrive at 23:45 local the previous day. I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route.



P.S. I'm specifically interested in how the airline allows booking such a flight and the UI that is presented, but am leaving this question more general for any flights that do this.



P.P.S. If someone could help with the tags for this question, it'd be much appreciated.










share|improve this question













put on hold as off-topic by fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin Nov 29 at 3:16


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "This question does not appear to be about aviation, within the scope defined in the help center." – fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.









  • 1




    hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
    – mins
    Nov 28 at 18:07






  • 1




    travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
    – Michael Lugo
    Nov 28 at 20:20










  • Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
    – Sandy Chapman
    Nov 29 at 19:48













up vote
4
down vote

favorite









up vote
4
down vote

favorite











Imagine the scenario where an airline flys a short 30 minute route which crosses a timezone going west. They could theoretically leave at 00:15 (local) and arrive at 23:45 local the previous day. I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route.



P.S. I'm specifically interested in how the airline allows booking such a flight and the UI that is presented, but am leaving this question more general for any flights that do this.



P.P.S. If someone could help with the tags for this question, it'd be much appreciated.










share|improve this question













Imagine the scenario where an airline flys a short 30 minute route which crosses a timezone going west. They could theoretically leave at 00:15 (local) and arrive at 23:45 local the previous day. I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route.



P.S. I'm specifically interested in how the airline allows booking such a flight and the UI that is presented, but am leaving this question more general for any flights that do this.



P.P.S. If someone could help with the tags for this question, it'd be much appreciated.







airline-operations






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share|improve this question











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asked Nov 28 at 17:31









Sandy Chapman

1315




1315




put on hold as off-topic by fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin Nov 29 at 3:16


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "This question does not appear to be about aviation, within the scope defined in the help center." – fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.




put on hold as off-topic by fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin Nov 29 at 3:16


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "This question does not appear to be about aviation, within the scope defined in the help center." – fooot, David Richerby, SMS von der Tann, Sean, kevin

If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.








  • 1




    hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
    – mins
    Nov 28 at 18:07






  • 1




    travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
    – Michael Lugo
    Nov 28 at 20:20










  • Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
    – Sandy Chapman
    Nov 29 at 19:48














  • 1




    hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
    – mins
    Nov 28 at 18:07






  • 1




    travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
    – Michael Lugo
    Nov 28 at 20:20










  • Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
    – Sandy Chapman
    Nov 29 at 19:48








1




1




hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
– mins
Nov 28 at 18:07




hum, that's not very different from DST events happening twice a year.
– mins
Nov 28 at 18:07




1




1




travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
– Michael Lugo
Nov 28 at 20:20




travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14480/… is basically the same question.
– Michael Lugo
Nov 28 at 20:20












Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
– Sandy Chapman
Nov 29 at 19:48




Looks like this isn't on topic for this Stack. Should be on travel instead. Sorry guys but thanks for the great answers!
– Sandy Chapman
Nov 29 at 19:48










6 Answers
6






active

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up vote
17
down vote













I found such a route for you. KATL (Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville, AL) is a 57 minute hop from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone. It appears how you would expect:



Departs 11:32 PM, arrives 11:29 PM.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.


















  • There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
    – Michael Lugo
    Nov 28 at 20:24






  • 1




    Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
    – zymhan
    Nov 28 at 21:39


















up vote
14
down vote













Back when Concorde was still a thing, British Airways' motto was 'Arrive before you leave', illustrating how you could arrive in North America sooner (in local time) than when you left Europe.






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Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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  • 7




    How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
    – Zach Lipton
    Nov 28 at 22:35






  • 2




    The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
    – Tanner Swett
    Nov 28 at 22:40


















up vote
11
down vote













UA892 leaves ICN at 6PM Friday (KT) and arrives at SFO at 11:30AM Friday (ET).



There's dozens of flights that leave Korea/Japan/etc and go to the US West Coast that arrive "before" they take off.



I'm not able to find a flight in these circumstances that leaves in the early AM from the west side of the Pacific, because that would seem to meet your criteria of arriving the previous day. The same flight leaving at 6AM Friday would arrive 11:30PM Thursday.






share|improve this answer




























    up vote
    8
    down vote













    Yes, there are loads of these. My personal most frequent return flight - Atlanta to Nashville - is a good example. It's 35-40 minutes flying time, but moves from the Eastern time zone to Central, thus landing 20-25 minutes before it took off.



    Much more extreme examples happen when you cross the International Date Line going East. For example, I've flown from Seoul (Incheon,) South Korea to San Francisco in about 10.5 hours. However, Seoul's time zone is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco's, so, despite the flight being 10.5 hours in duration, it landed 6.5 hours before it took off in local time.



    Even flights with 14+ hour duration from East Asia to the U.S. mainland frequently land earlier than they take off.



    The most extreme examples would be from an airport just on the Western side of the International Date Line to one just on the East side. These can land almost a full day before their departure in local time. In some cases, it's even possible to land slightly more than a full day before their departure, such as flights from the Line Islands of Kiribati (UTC+14) to, say, American Samoa (UTC-11).



    And this is why aviation always uses Zulu time (UTC), not local time.






    share|improve this answer






























      up vote
      4
      down vote













      Yes, being a pretty frequent traveler between the US and Australia I've very often technically 'arrived' before I left. I tend to book through Orbitz and while the trip to Australia is often marked with a +2 to show that crossing the date line adds another day to your trip (ie, you leave on Monday and get there on Wednesday even though the flight is only 13 hours), when you return it's common to find flights that look like this one below. Where you leave Australia at 9:35am, fly for over 13 hours, and arrive three hours earlier:



      screenshot from Orbitz, return flight from Sydney to LAX



      Personally, I'm not a big fan of how Orbitz doesn't show the actual dates with the times. It'd help clear up confusion here.






      share|improve this answer








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      Jen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        up vote
        -1
        down vote













        I like JQ129 from Auckland (AKL) to Rarotonga (RAR). You arrive 19 hours before you depart.






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        • 1




          Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
          – David Richerby
          Nov 29 at 11:05


















        6 Answers
        6






        active

        oldest

        votes








        6 Answers
        6






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes








        up vote
        17
        down vote













        I found such a route for you. KATL (Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville, AL) is a 57 minute hop from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone. It appears how you would expect:



        Departs 11:32 PM, arrives 11:29 PM.






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.


















        • There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
          – Michael Lugo
          Nov 28 at 20:24






        • 1




          Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
          – zymhan
          Nov 28 at 21:39















        up vote
        17
        down vote













        I found such a route for you. KATL (Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville, AL) is a 57 minute hop from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone. It appears how you would expect:



        Departs 11:32 PM, arrives 11:29 PM.






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.


















        • There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
          – Michael Lugo
          Nov 28 at 20:24






        • 1




          Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
          – zymhan
          Nov 28 at 21:39













        up vote
        17
        down vote










        up vote
        17
        down vote









        I found such a route for you. KATL (Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville, AL) is a 57 minute hop from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone. It appears how you would expect:



        Departs 11:32 PM, arrives 11:29 PM.






        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        I found such a route for you. KATL (Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville, AL) is a 57 minute hop from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone. It appears how you would expect:



        Departs 11:32 PM, arrives 11:29 PM.







        share|improve this answer








        New contributor




        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer






        New contributor




        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        answered Nov 28 at 18:09









        Chris

        2712




        2712




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        New contributor





        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






        Chris is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.












        • There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
          – Michael Lugo
          Nov 28 at 20:24






        • 1




          Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
          – zymhan
          Nov 28 at 21:39


















        • There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
          – Michael Lugo
          Nov 28 at 20:24






        • 1




          Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
          – zymhan
          Nov 28 at 21:39
















        There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
        – Michael Lugo
        Nov 28 at 20:24




        There used to be similar flights westbound into Chicago O'Hare, but it appears that United has padded the schedules a bit. Presumably schedules are padded a bit more into the hub - for example Delta HSV-ATL appears to be scheduled for between 1:03 and 1:09. There are some ATL-BHM (Birmingham, AL) flights that show the same effect.
        – Michael Lugo
        Nov 28 at 20:24




        1




        1




        Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
        – zymhan
        Nov 28 at 21:39




        Even better, Atlanta to Birmingham is only 47 minutes, so you can take off at 9:44AM and land at 9:31AM.
        – zymhan
        Nov 28 at 21:39










        up vote
        14
        down vote













        Back when Concorde was still a thing, British Airways' motto was 'Arrive before you leave', illustrating how you could arrive in North America sooner (in local time) than when you left Europe.






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.














        • 7




          How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
          – Zach Lipton
          Nov 28 at 22:35






        • 2




          The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
          – Tanner Swett
          Nov 28 at 22:40















        up vote
        14
        down vote













        Back when Concorde was still a thing, British Airways' motto was 'Arrive before you leave', illustrating how you could arrive in North America sooner (in local time) than when you left Europe.






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.














        • 7




          How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
          – Zach Lipton
          Nov 28 at 22:35






        • 2




          The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
          – Tanner Swett
          Nov 28 at 22:40













        up vote
        14
        down vote










        up vote
        14
        down vote









        Back when Concorde was still a thing, British Airways' motto was 'Arrive before you leave', illustrating how you could arrive in North America sooner (in local time) than when you left Europe.






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        Back when Concorde was still a thing, British Airways' motto was 'Arrive before you leave', illustrating how you could arrive in North America sooner (in local time) than when you left Europe.







        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Nov 28 at 22:41





















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        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        answered Nov 28 at 20:45









        Maxime

        1494




        1494




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        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        New contributor





        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






        Maxime is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.








        • 7




          How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
          – Zach Lipton
          Nov 28 at 22:35






        • 2




          The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
          – Tanner Swett
          Nov 28 at 22:40














        • 7




          How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
          – Zach Lipton
          Nov 28 at 22:35






        • 2




          The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
          – Tanner Swett
          Nov 28 at 22:40








        7




        7




        How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
        – Zach Lipton
        Nov 28 at 22:35




        How does this not provide an answer to the question? It's no longer a current option, but it describes an example of such flights and shows that there's a long history of them.
        – Zach Lipton
        Nov 28 at 22:35




        2




        2




        The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
        – Tanner Swett
        Nov 28 at 22:40




        The question says, "I'm wondering if there are any airlines which fly such a route." No airlines fly Concorde currently, so this doesn't provide a current answer to the question.
        – Tanner Swett
        Nov 28 at 22:40










        up vote
        11
        down vote













        UA892 leaves ICN at 6PM Friday (KT) and arrives at SFO at 11:30AM Friday (ET).



        There's dozens of flights that leave Korea/Japan/etc and go to the US West Coast that arrive "before" they take off.



        I'm not able to find a flight in these circumstances that leaves in the early AM from the west side of the Pacific, because that would seem to meet your criteria of arriving the previous day. The same flight leaving at 6AM Friday would arrive 11:30PM Thursday.






        share|improve this answer

























          up vote
          11
          down vote













          UA892 leaves ICN at 6PM Friday (KT) and arrives at SFO at 11:30AM Friday (ET).



          There's dozens of flights that leave Korea/Japan/etc and go to the US West Coast that arrive "before" they take off.



          I'm not able to find a flight in these circumstances that leaves in the early AM from the west side of the Pacific, because that would seem to meet your criteria of arriving the previous day. The same flight leaving at 6AM Friday would arrive 11:30PM Thursday.






          share|improve this answer























            up vote
            11
            down vote










            up vote
            11
            down vote









            UA892 leaves ICN at 6PM Friday (KT) and arrives at SFO at 11:30AM Friday (ET).



            There's dozens of flights that leave Korea/Japan/etc and go to the US West Coast that arrive "before" they take off.



            I'm not able to find a flight in these circumstances that leaves in the early AM from the west side of the Pacific, because that would seem to meet your criteria of arriving the previous day. The same flight leaving at 6AM Friday would arrive 11:30PM Thursday.






            share|improve this answer












            UA892 leaves ICN at 6PM Friday (KT) and arrives at SFO at 11:30AM Friday (ET).



            There's dozens of flights that leave Korea/Japan/etc and go to the US West Coast that arrive "before" they take off.



            I'm not able to find a flight in these circumstances that leaves in the early AM from the west side of the Pacific, because that would seem to meet your criteria of arriving the previous day. The same flight leaving at 6AM Friday would arrive 11:30PM Thursday.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Nov 28 at 18:27









            Aaron

            846822




            846822






















                up vote
                8
                down vote













                Yes, there are loads of these. My personal most frequent return flight - Atlanta to Nashville - is a good example. It's 35-40 minutes flying time, but moves from the Eastern time zone to Central, thus landing 20-25 minutes before it took off.



                Much more extreme examples happen when you cross the International Date Line going East. For example, I've flown from Seoul (Incheon,) South Korea to San Francisco in about 10.5 hours. However, Seoul's time zone is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco's, so, despite the flight being 10.5 hours in duration, it landed 6.5 hours before it took off in local time.



                Even flights with 14+ hour duration from East Asia to the U.S. mainland frequently land earlier than they take off.



                The most extreme examples would be from an airport just on the Western side of the International Date Line to one just on the East side. These can land almost a full day before their departure in local time. In some cases, it's even possible to land slightly more than a full day before their departure, such as flights from the Line Islands of Kiribati (UTC+14) to, say, American Samoa (UTC-11).



                And this is why aviation always uses Zulu time (UTC), not local time.






                share|improve this answer



























                  up vote
                  8
                  down vote













                  Yes, there are loads of these. My personal most frequent return flight - Atlanta to Nashville - is a good example. It's 35-40 minutes flying time, but moves from the Eastern time zone to Central, thus landing 20-25 minutes before it took off.



                  Much more extreme examples happen when you cross the International Date Line going East. For example, I've flown from Seoul (Incheon,) South Korea to San Francisco in about 10.5 hours. However, Seoul's time zone is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco's, so, despite the flight being 10.5 hours in duration, it landed 6.5 hours before it took off in local time.



                  Even flights with 14+ hour duration from East Asia to the U.S. mainland frequently land earlier than they take off.



                  The most extreme examples would be from an airport just on the Western side of the International Date Line to one just on the East side. These can land almost a full day before their departure in local time. In some cases, it's even possible to land slightly more than a full day before their departure, such as flights from the Line Islands of Kiribati (UTC+14) to, say, American Samoa (UTC-11).



                  And this is why aviation always uses Zulu time (UTC), not local time.






                  share|improve this answer

























                    up vote
                    8
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    8
                    down vote









                    Yes, there are loads of these. My personal most frequent return flight - Atlanta to Nashville - is a good example. It's 35-40 minutes flying time, but moves from the Eastern time zone to Central, thus landing 20-25 minutes before it took off.



                    Much more extreme examples happen when you cross the International Date Line going East. For example, I've flown from Seoul (Incheon,) South Korea to San Francisco in about 10.5 hours. However, Seoul's time zone is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco's, so, despite the flight being 10.5 hours in duration, it landed 6.5 hours before it took off in local time.



                    Even flights with 14+ hour duration from East Asia to the U.S. mainland frequently land earlier than they take off.



                    The most extreme examples would be from an airport just on the Western side of the International Date Line to one just on the East side. These can land almost a full day before their departure in local time. In some cases, it's even possible to land slightly more than a full day before their departure, such as flights from the Line Islands of Kiribati (UTC+14) to, say, American Samoa (UTC-11).



                    And this is why aviation always uses Zulu time (UTC), not local time.






                    share|improve this answer














                    Yes, there are loads of these. My personal most frequent return flight - Atlanta to Nashville - is a good example. It's 35-40 minutes flying time, but moves from the Eastern time zone to Central, thus landing 20-25 minutes before it took off.



                    Much more extreme examples happen when you cross the International Date Line going East. For example, I've flown from Seoul (Incheon,) South Korea to San Francisco in about 10.5 hours. However, Seoul's time zone is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco's, so, despite the flight being 10.5 hours in duration, it landed 6.5 hours before it took off in local time.



                    Even flights with 14+ hour duration from East Asia to the U.S. mainland frequently land earlier than they take off.



                    The most extreme examples would be from an airport just on the Western side of the International Date Line to one just on the East side. These can land almost a full day before their departure in local time. In some cases, it's even possible to land slightly more than a full day before their departure, such as flights from the Line Islands of Kiribati (UTC+14) to, say, American Samoa (UTC-11).



                    And this is why aviation always uses Zulu time (UTC), not local time.







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                    edited Nov 28 at 21:03

























                    answered Nov 28 at 20:50









                    reirab

                    13.7k135103




                    13.7k135103






















                        up vote
                        4
                        down vote













                        Yes, being a pretty frequent traveler between the US and Australia I've very often technically 'arrived' before I left. I tend to book through Orbitz and while the trip to Australia is often marked with a +2 to show that crossing the date line adds another day to your trip (ie, you leave on Monday and get there on Wednesday even though the flight is only 13 hours), when you return it's common to find flights that look like this one below. Where you leave Australia at 9:35am, fly for over 13 hours, and arrive three hours earlier:



                        screenshot from Orbitz, return flight from Sydney to LAX



                        Personally, I'm not a big fan of how Orbitz doesn't show the actual dates with the times. It'd help clear up confusion here.






                        share|improve this answer








                        New contributor




                        Jen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                        Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                          up vote
                          4
                          down vote













                          Yes, being a pretty frequent traveler between the US and Australia I've very often technically 'arrived' before I left. I tend to book through Orbitz and while the trip to Australia is often marked with a +2 to show that crossing the date line adds another day to your trip (ie, you leave on Monday and get there on Wednesday even though the flight is only 13 hours), when you return it's common to find flights that look like this one below. Where you leave Australia at 9:35am, fly for over 13 hours, and arrive three hours earlier:



                          screenshot from Orbitz, return flight from Sydney to LAX



                          Personally, I'm not a big fan of how Orbitz doesn't show the actual dates with the times. It'd help clear up confusion here.






                          share|improve this answer








                          New contributor




                          Jen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                          Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                            up vote
                            4
                            down vote










                            up vote
                            4
                            down vote









                            Yes, being a pretty frequent traveler between the US and Australia I've very often technically 'arrived' before I left. I tend to book through Orbitz and while the trip to Australia is often marked with a +2 to show that crossing the date line adds another day to your trip (ie, you leave on Monday and get there on Wednesday even though the flight is only 13 hours), when you return it's common to find flights that look like this one below. Where you leave Australia at 9:35am, fly for over 13 hours, and arrive three hours earlier:



                            screenshot from Orbitz, return flight from Sydney to LAX



                            Personally, I'm not a big fan of how Orbitz doesn't show the actual dates with the times. It'd help clear up confusion here.






                            share|improve this answer








                            New contributor




                            Jen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                            Check out our Code of Conduct.









                            Yes, being a pretty frequent traveler between the US and Australia I've very often technically 'arrived' before I left. I tend to book through Orbitz and while the trip to Australia is often marked with a +2 to show that crossing the date line adds another day to your trip (ie, you leave on Monday and get there on Wednesday even though the flight is only 13 hours), when you return it's common to find flights that look like this one below. Where you leave Australia at 9:35am, fly for over 13 hours, and arrive three hours earlier:



                            screenshot from Orbitz, return flight from Sydney to LAX



                            Personally, I'm not a big fan of how Orbitz doesn't show the actual dates with the times. It'd help clear up confusion here.







                            share|improve this answer








                            New contributor




                            Jen is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                            Check out our Code of Conduct.









                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer






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                            answered Nov 28 at 22:39









                            Jen

                            411




                            411




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                                up vote
                                -1
                                down vote













                                I like JQ129 from Auckland (AKL) to Rarotonga (RAR). You arrive 19 hours before you depart.






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                                • 1




                                  Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                  – David Richerby
                                  Nov 29 at 11:05















                                up vote
                                -1
                                down vote













                                I like JQ129 from Auckland (AKL) to Rarotonga (RAR). You arrive 19 hours before you depart.






                                share|improve this answer










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                                • 1




                                  Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                  – David Richerby
                                  Nov 29 at 11:05













                                up vote
                                -1
                                down vote










                                up vote
                                -1
                                down vote









                                I like JQ129 from Auckland (AKL) to Rarotonga (RAR). You arrive 19 hours before you depart.






                                share|improve this answer










                                New contributor




                                user35758 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                                I like JQ129 from Auckland (AKL) to Rarotonga (RAR). You arrive 19 hours before you depart.







                                share|improve this answer










                                New contributor




                                user35758 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer








                                edited Nov 29 at 15:18









                                Bianfable

                                531113




                                531113






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                                answered Nov 29 at 3:14









                                user35758

                                1




                                1




                                New contributor




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                                New contributor





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                                • 1




                                  Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                  – David Richerby
                                  Nov 29 at 11:05














                                • 1




                                  Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                  – David Richerby
                                  Nov 29 at 11:05








                                1




                                1




                                Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                – David Richerby
                                Nov 29 at 11:05




                                Please don't refer to airports and airlines by just their IATA codes. Almost nobody will know what your answer means without Googling the abbreviations. You saved yourself maybe two seconds of typing and made everybody else spend at least ten times that much time finding out what you're saying.
                                – David Richerby
                                Nov 29 at 11:05



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