---
title: "Madrid to New York (MAD → JFK): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Madrid to New York is 5,760 km (3,579 mi) great circle, an estimated 7h 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/mad-to-jfk
---

MAD → JFK

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

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas to John F. Kennedy is 5,760 km of great circle — 3,579 mi — and an estimated 7h 40m in the air. It crosses from Europe to North America.

**Great circle**
5,760 km
3,579 mi

**Estimated in the air**
7h 40m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
46.3°N
at 50% along

**One lap of Earth**
14.4%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 114th longest.

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

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Madrid the path crosses Spain, then 4,911 km of open water, then the United States.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 46.3°N, 50% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 5,930 km. That is 170 km further, about 3% more, and roughly 13m of extra flying.

Leaving Madrid the aircraft points north-west (295°); it arrives into New York heading south-west (246°). That is 49° 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 816 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

MAD

## Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas

Madrid, Spain · Europe

40.5°N, 3.6°W

[MAD airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/mad) [Flights to Madrid →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/madrid)

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)

## Madrid to New York, asked and answered

**How far is Madrid to New York?**
Madrid to New York (MAD to JFK) is 5,760 km, or 3,579 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Madrid to New York?**
About 7h 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 Madrid to New York flight take?**
The great circle passes over Spain, then 4,911 km of open water, then the United States. It reaches 46.3°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

[CDG → JFK Paris to New York 5,834 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-jfk) [AMS → JFK Amsterdam to New York 5,848 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ams-to-jfk) [MAD → DXB Madrid to Dubai 5,650 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-dxb) [LHR → JFK London to New York 5,540 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-jfk) [LIS → JFK Lisbon to New York 5,404 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lis-to-jfk) [FRA → JFK Frankfurt to New York 6,189 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-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)

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