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Flying from Paris to Montreal?

Add a departure date and see which side gets the sun.

About this route

ParisMontreal

A long flight from France to Canada. You gain 6 hours on arrival.

Route type International
Distance 5,524 km / 3,432 mi
Distance class Long-haul
Direction Westbound
Est. duration About 7h 40m
Time change Destination -6h

Departing from

CDG

Charles de Gaulle International Airport

Location Paris, France
Time zone GMT+2 · UTC+2
Current time

The City of Light

Paris is a compact, dense capital wrapped by a ring road, its historic core walkable and tightly stitched together by the Metro. Inside that ring the city is small enough to cross on foot or by train, and a car is more trouble than help. Grand boulevards, museums, and the river define the center, while much of everyday Paris and both its airports sit in the surrounding suburbs. Arriving from either airport means a train or road trip across that ring.

City access

Charles de Gaulle is the main airport, northeast of Paris. The RER B suburban train runs to the center in around forty-five minutes, alongside buses and taxis. It is a large, multi-terminal airport, so leave time to move between them.

Nearby airports

34 km / 21 mi

Surrounding hubs

252 km / 157 mi
308 km / 191 mi
348 km / 216 mi

Arriving at

YUL

Montreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Location Montreal, Canada
Time zone EDT · UTC−4
Current time

Canada's French-speaking metropolis

Montreal is Canada's largest French-speaking city, built around Mont Royal on an island in the St. Lawrence River, with a distinct European feel in neighborhoods like Old Montreal. A dedicated light-rail link to Trudeau Airport is under construction but not yet open, so an express bus (the 747) is currently the main public transit option, alongside taxis and rideshares. Winters are long, snowy, and genuinely cold, while summers are warm and lively, with a packed festival calendar. The city's underground network of tunnels and shops lets much of downtown be reached without going outside in winter.

Surrounding hubs

409 km / 254 mi
507 km / 315 mi
522 km / 324 mi
How it works

Find out which side of the plane to sit on.

Pick your airports, set your departure time, and you're done.

We calculate the sun's position based on your flight path and departure time, then tell you which side of the plane gets direct sun and which stays shaded. No guessing, just math.

01

Enter your flight

Pick your departure and arrival airports and set your departure time at the departure airport. FlightSide estimates the duration and you can adjust it if you know the exact schedule.

02

We track the sun along your route

Your flight path is broken into hundreds of points. At each one we check where the sun is and which side of the plane it faces.

03

You get a recommendation

Which side of the plane to sit on, left or right, depending on whether you'd rather avoid the sun or enjoy it. The percentages and the map are there if you want to see why.

Want to go deeper? Accuracy, edge cases, polar routes — see the FAQ →

Latest journal

Notes from the product.

Small updates, route observations, and clearer explanations for how the app keeps evolving.