---
title: "Los Angeles to Mexico City (LAX → MEX): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Los Angeles to Mexico City is 2,500 km (1,554 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 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-mex
---

LAX → MEX

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

Los Angeles to Mexico City Benito Juárez is 2,500 km of great circle — 1,554 mi — and an estimated 3h 36m in the air. Both ends are in North America.

**Great circle**
2,500 km
1,554 mi

**Estimated in the air**
3h 36m
block time

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

**One lap of Earth**
6.2%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 180th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Los Angeles the path crosses the United States, then Mexico.

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 south-east (125°); it arrives into Mexico City heading south-east (134°). That is 9° 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 371 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

MEX

## Mexico City Benito Juárez

Mexico City, Mexico · North America

19.4°N, 99.1°W

[MEX airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/mex) [Flights to Mexico City →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/mexico-city)

## Los Angeles to Mexico City, asked and answered

**How far is Los Angeles to Mexico City?**
Los Angeles to Mexico City (LAX to MEX) is 2,500 km, or 1,554 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City?**
About 3h 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 Mexico City flight take?**
The great circle passes over the United States, then Mexico. 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

[LAX → ORD Los Angeles to Chicago 2,802 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-ord) [LAX → SEA Los Angeles to Seattle 1,537 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-sea) [LAX → DEN Los Angeles to Denver 1,385 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-den) [MEX → CUN Mexico City to Cancún 1,285 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mex-to-cun) [JFK → LAX New York to Los Angeles 3,974 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-lax) [LAX → HNL Los Angeles to Honolulu 4,108 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-hnl)

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