---
title: "Reykjavík to New York (KEF → JFK): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Reykjavík to New York is 4,163 km (2,587 mi) great circle, an estimated 5h 40m 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/kef-to-jfk
---

KEF → JFK

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

Keflavik to John F. Kennedy is 4,163 km of great circle — 2,587 mi — and an estimated 5h 40m in the air. It crosses from Europe to North America.

**Great circle**
4,163 km
2,587 mi

**Estimated in the air**
5h 40m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
64.0°N
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
10.4%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 145th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Reykjavík the path crosses 2,217 km of open water, then Canada, then the United States.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 64.0°N, 0% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 4,255 km. That is 91 km further, about 2% more, and roughly 7m of extra flying.

Leaving Reykjavík the aircraft points west (257°); it arrives into New York heading south-west (214°). That is 42° 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 590 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

KEF

## Keflavik

Reykjavík, Iceland · Europe

64.0°N, 22.6°W

[KEF airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/kef)

To

JFK

## John F. Kennedy

New York, United States · North America

40.6°N, 73.8°W

[JFK airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/jfk) [Flights to New York →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/new-york)

## Reykjavík to New York, asked and answered

**How far is Reykjavík to New York?**
Reykjavík to New York (KEF to JFK) is 4,163 km, or 2,587 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Reykjavík to New York?**
About 5h 40m 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 Reykjavík to New York flight take?**
The great circle passes over 2,217 km of open water, then Canada, then the United States. It reaches 64.0°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

[JFK → SFO New York to San Francisco 4,152 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sfo) [JFK → LAX New York to Los Angeles 3,974 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax) [JFK → SEA New York to Seattle 3,887 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-sea) [KEF → BOS Reykjavík to Boston 3,875 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/kef-to-bos) [DUB → JFK Dublin to New York 5,103 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dub-to-jfk) [LIS → JFK Lisbon to New York 5,404 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lis-to-jfk)

## 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)

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