---
title: "Los Angeles to Honolulu (LAX → HNL): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Los Angeles to Honolulu is 4,108 km (2,553 mi) great circle, an estimated 5h 36m 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/lax-to-hnl
---

LAX → HNL

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

Los Angeles to Daniel K. Inouye is 4,108 km of great circle — 2,553 mi — and an estimated 5h 36m in the air. It crosses from North America to Oceania.

**Great circle**
4,108 km
2,553 mi

**Estimated in the air**
5h 36m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
33.9°N
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
10.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 147th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Los Angeles the path crosses 4,078 km of open water.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 33.9°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 Los Angeles the aircraft points west (260°); it arrives into Honolulu heading south-west (241°). That is 19° 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 582 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

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)

To

HNL

## Daniel K. Inouye

Honolulu, United States · Oceania

21.3°N, 157.9°W

[HNL airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/hnl) [Flights to Honolulu →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/honolulu)

## Los Angeles to Honolulu, asked and answered

**How far is Los Angeles to Honolulu?**
Los Angeles to Honolulu (LAX to HNL) is 4,108 km, or 2,553 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu?**
About 5h 36m 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 Los Angeles to Honolulu flight take?**
The great circle passes over 4,078 km of open water. It reaches 33.9°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 → LAX New York to Los Angeles 3,974 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax) [SEA → HNL Seattle to Honolulu 4,308 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sea-to-hnl) [SFO → HNL San Francisco to Honolulu 3,857 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sfo-to-hnl) [LAX → ORD Los Angeles to Chicago 2,802 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-ord) [LAX → MEX Los Angeles to Mexico City 2,500 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-mex) [HNL → HND Honolulu to Tokyo 6,191 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/hnl-to-hnd)

## 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/lax-to-hnl for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt