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Flying from Miami to Mexico City?

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

About this route

MiamiMexico City

A medium flight from United States to Mexico. Set your watch back 2 hours on arrival.

Route type International
Distance 2,051 km / 1,274 mi
Distance class Medium-haul
Direction West-southwest
Est. duration About 3h 10m
Time change Destination -2h

This route crosses the Tropic of Cancer, the northernmost latitude where the sun passes directly overhead.

Departing from

MIA

Miami International Airport

Location Miami, United States
Time zone EDT · UTC−4
Current time

The Magic City

Miami is a low, flat city wrapped around Biscayne Bay, with the Atlantic and its barrier-island beaches on one side and the Everglades not far to the west. It is really several cities at once: the beach strip, the mainland business core, and a patchwork of distinct, often Latin American neighborhoods that give Miami its bilingual rhythm. Heat, humidity, and a real hurricane season shape the calendar more than in most US cities. The city is built for the car; transit exists but rarely beats driving, so expect traffic to be part of any plan.

Nearby airports

34 km / 21 mi

Surrounding hubs

1,049 km / 652 mi
310 km / 193 mi
329 km / 204 mi

Arriving at

MEX

Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport

Location Mexico City, Mexico
Time zone CST · UTC−6
Current time

The capital on a former lake

Mexico City was built atop the drained bed of Lake Texcoco, the site of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, and the soft former lakebed still causes parts of the city to sink unevenly each year. The Metro's Line 5 reaches a station a short walk from Terminal 1, the airport's cheapest and most direct public option, though Terminal 2 requires an extra connection. Sitting at over 2,200 meters (7,200 feet), the altitude can be noticeable to visitors, and the surrounding mountains trap smog on still days. It's one of the largest metro areas on Earth, and beyond the rail network's reach, traffic is a serious daily reality.

Surrounding hubs

1,910 km / 1,187 mi
1,056 km / 656 mi
1,232 km / 766 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.