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JFK → CUN

New York to Cancún: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

John F. Kennedy to Cancún is 2,506 km of great circle — 1,557 mi — and an estimated 3h 37m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

Great circle
2,506 km
1,557 mi
Estimated in the air
3h 37m
block time
Furthest from equator
40.6°N
at 0% along
One lap of Earth
6.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 179th longest.

The New York to Cancún route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

What the aircraft actually flies over

From New York the path crosses the United States, then 307 km of open water, then the United States, then 896 km of open water.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 40.6°N, 0% of the way along.

Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.

Leaving New York the aircraft points south-west (213°); it arrives into Cancún heading south-west (207°). That is 7° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

From

JFK

John F. Kennedy

New York, United States · North America

40.6°N, 73.8°W

To

CUN

Cancún

Cancún, Mexico · North America

21.0°N, 86.9°W

New York to Cancún, asked and answered

How far is New York to Cancún?
New York to Cancún (JFK to CUN) is 2,506 km, or 1,557 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from New York to Cancún?
About 3h 37m 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 New York to Cancún flight take?
The great circle passes over the United States, then 307 km of open water, then the United States, then 896 km of open water. It reaches 40.6°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 →

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