---
title: "Madrid to Gran Canaria (MAD → LPA): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Madrid to Gran Canaria is 1,766 km (1,097 mi) great circle, an estimated 2h 42m 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-lpa
---

MAD → LPA

# Madrid to Gran Canaria: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas to Gran Canaria is 1,766 km of great circle — 1,097 mi — and an estimated 2h 42m in the air. It crosses from Europe to Africa.

**Great circle**
1,766 km
1,097 mi

**Estimated in the air**
2h 42m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
40.5°N
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
4.4%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 207th longest.

The Madrid to Gran Canaria route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Madrid the path crosses Spain, then 1,271 km of open water.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 40.5°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 Madrid the aircraft points south-west (221°); it arrives into Gran Canaria heading south-west (215°). 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.

One economy seat on it is about 262 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

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

LPA

## Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria, Spain · Africa

27.9°N, 15.4°W

[LPA airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/lpa)

## Madrid to Gran Canaria, asked and answered

**How far is Madrid to Gran Canaria?**
Madrid to Gran Canaria (MAD to LPA) is 1,766 km, or 1,097 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Madrid to Gran Canaria?**
About 2h 42m 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 Gran Canaria flight take?**
The great circle passes over Spain, then 1,271 km of open water. It reaches 40.5°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

[LHR → MAD London to Madrid 1,244 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-mad) [MAD → BCN Madrid to Barcelona 483 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-bcn) [MAD → DXB Madrid to Dubai 5,650 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-dxb) [MAD → JFK Madrid to New York 5,760 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-jfk) [MAD → BOG Madrid to Bogotá 8,031 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-bog) [MAD → GRU Madrid to São Paulo 8,378 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mad-to-gru)

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