---
title: "Frankfurt to Los Angeles (FRA → LAX): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Frankfurt to Los Angeles is 9,322 km (5,792 mi) great circle, an estimated 12h 05m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-lax
---

FRA → LAX

# Frankfurt to Los Angeles: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Frankfurt Main to Los Angeles is 9,322 km of great circle — 5,792 mi — and an estimated 12h 05m in the air. It crosses from Europe to North America.

**Great circle**
9,322 km
5,792 mi

**Estimated in the air**
12h 05m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
64.6°N
at 38% along

**One lap of Earth**
23.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 55th longest.

The Frankfurt to Los Angeles route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Frankfurt the path crosses Germany, then Netherlands, then 629 km of open water, then United Kingdom, then 1,981 km of open water, then Greenland, then 606 km of open water, then Canada, then 816 km of open water, then Canada, then the United States.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 64.6°N, 38% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 10,556 km. That is 1,234 km further, about 13% more, and roughly 1h 32m of extra flying.

Leaving Frankfurt the aircraft points north-west (318°); it arrives into Los Angeles heading south-west (211°). That is 107° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

One economy seat on it is about 1.32 t of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[FRA–LAX carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=FRA&to=LAX) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=FRA-LAX)

From

FRA

## Frankfurt Main

Frankfurt, Germany · Europe

50.0°N, 8.6°E

[FRA airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/fra) [Flights to Frankfurt →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/frankfurt)

To

LAX

## Los Angeles

Los Angeles, United States · North America

33.9°N, 118.4°W

[LAX airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lax) [Flights to Los Angeles →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/los-angeles)

## Frankfurt to Los Angeles, asked and answered

**How far is Frankfurt to Los Angeles?**
Frankfurt to Los Angeles (FRA to LAX) is 9,322 km, or 5,792 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Frankfurt to Los Angeles?**
About 12h 05m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a Frankfurt to Los Angeles flight take?**
The great circle passes over Germany, then Netherlands, then 629 km of open water, then United Kingdom, then 1,981 km of open water, then Greenland, then 606 km of open water, then Canada, then 816 km of open water, then Canada, then the United States. It reaches 64.6°N at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[FRA → HKG Frankfurt to Hong Kong 9,154 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-hkg) [CDG → LAX Paris to Los Angeles 9,103 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-lax) [LAX → ICN Los Angeles to Seoul 9,625 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-icn) [LAX → HND Los Angeles to Tokyo 8,812 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-hnd) [LHR → LAX London to Los Angeles 8,760 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-lax) [LAX → NRT Los Angeles to Tokyo 8,753 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-nrt)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

---
Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-lax for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt