---
title: "San Francisco to Seoul (SFO → ICN): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "San Francisco to Seoul is 9,085 km (5,645 mi) great circle, an estimated 11h 47m 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/sfo-to-icn
---

SFO → ICN

# San Francisco to Seoul: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

San Francisco to Incheon is 9,085 km of great circle — 5,645 mi — and an estimated 11h 47m in the air. It crosses from North America to Asia.

**Great circle**
9,085 km
5,645 mi

**Estimated in the air**
11h 47m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
53.7°N
at 50% along

**One lap of Earth**
22.7%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 60th longest.

The San Francisco to Seoul route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From San Francisco the path crosses 8,722 km of open water, then South Korea.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 53.7°N, 50% of the way along.

Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 9,802 km. That is 716 km further, about 8% more, and roughly 53m of extra flying.

Leaving San Francisco the aircraft points north-west (312°); it arrives into Seoul heading south-west (228°). That is 83° 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 1.29 t of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

SFO

## San Francisco

San Francisco, United States · North America

37.6°N, 122.4°W

[SFO airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/sfo) [Flights to San Francisco →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/san-francisco)

To

ICN

## Incheon

Seoul, South Korea · Asia

37.5°N, 126.5°E

[ICN airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/icn) [Flights to Seoul →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/seoul)

## San Francisco to Seoul, asked and answered

**How far is San Francisco to Seoul?**
San Francisco to Seoul (SFO to ICN) is 9,085 km, or 5,645 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from San Francisco to Seoul?**
About 11h 47m 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 San Francisco to Seoul flight take?**
The great circle passes over 8,722 km of open water, then South Korea. It reaches 53.7°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 → ICN London to Seoul 8,861 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-icn) [LHR → SFO London to San Francisco 8,616 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-sfo) [LAX → ICN Los Angeles to Seoul 9,625 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-icn) [SEA → ICN Seattle to Seoul 8,373 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sea-to-icn) [SFO → PVG San Francisco to Shanghai 9,877 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sfo-to-pvg) [SFO → HND San Francisco to Tokyo 8,285 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/sfo-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/sfo-to-icn for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt