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Flying from Seoul to Los Angeles?

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

About this route

SeoulLos Angeles

A very long flight from South Korea to United States. The clock rolls back 16 hours when you land.

Route type International
Distance 9,625 km / 5,981 mi
Distance class Ultra-long-haul
Direction Eastbound
Est. duration About 12h 55m
Time change Destination -16h

You'll cross the International Date Line and the calendar rolls back a day at the crossing.

Departing from

ICN

Incheon International Airport

Location Seoul, South Korea
Time zone GMT+9 · UTC+9
Current time

A megacity on the Han River

Seoul is a dense, mountainous megacity split by the Han River, with the historic core and palaces to the north and newer business districts like Gangnam to the south. It runs on a fast, cheap, and far-reaching subway system, so a car is rarely needed. The metro area is vast and packed, ringed by hills and high-rise housing. Its main airport sits on an island well west of the city, a fair distance out.

Surrounding hubs

563 km / 350 mi
822 km / 511 mi
860 km / 534 mi

Arriving at

LAX

Los Angeles International Airport

Location Los Angeles, United States
Time zone PDT · UTC−7
Current time

The Entertainment Capital of the World

Los Angeles is a spread-out city in a much larger county, with the Pacific on one side and mountains on the other. The places travelers usually mean by "LA" can be far apart: beach cities, studio districts, downtown, canyon neighborhoods, museum corridors, and the San Fernando Valley. The region is built around driving, and a short distance on the map can become a long trip in traffic. Where you stay matters more here than in most cities, because crossing the basin can shape the day.

City access

LAX sits on the coast at the western edge of the basin, handy for the beaches and the Westside but a long way from downtown, Hollywood, or the Valley. Transit to the airport is limited and slow, so most travelers leave by car, ride-hail, or shuttle. Factor the drive into your timing, because from the eastern and northern suburbs it can be one of the longest legs of the trip.

Nearby airports

176 km / 109 mi

Surrounding hubs

543 km / 337 mi
595 km / 370 mi
949 km / 590 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

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