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Flying from Tokyo to Seoul?

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

About this route

TokyoSeoul

A short flight from Japan to South Korea. Your watch stays put on arrival.

Route type International
Distance 1,257 km / 781 mi
Distance class Short-haul
Direction Westbound
Est. duration About 2h 5m
Time change No change

Departing from

NRT

Narita International Airport

Location Tokyo, Japan
Time zone GMT+9 · UTC+9
Current time

The world's largest metropolis

Tokyo anchors the most populous metropolitan area on Earth, a sprawling lowland of districts that each feel like a city in their own right. It runs on an unrivaled web of trains and subways, punctual and dense, that makes a car pointless for most visitors. The center has no single heart but many, with government, business, and shopping districts spread across the rail map. Its two airports lie at very different distances from the city, so the choice matters.

City access

Narita is the farther airport, well east of Tokyo in Chiba prefecture, around 60 km (35 mi) out. Fast express trains reach the center in roughly an hour, but it is a notably longer trip than from Haneda. Factor that distance in, especially for tight connections or late arrivals.

Nearby airports

60 km / 37 mi

Surrounding hubs

1,038 km / 645 mi
1,613 km / 1,002 mi
341 km / 212 mi

Arriving at

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

902 km / 560 mi
973 km / 605 mi
338 km / 210 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.