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Flying from Montreal to Vancouver?

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

About this route

MontrealVancouver

A medium flight within Canada. The clock rolls back 3 hours when you land.

Route type Domestic
Distance 3,682 km / 2,288 mi
Distance class Medium-haul
Direction Westbound
Est. duration About 5h 15m
Time change Destination -3h

Departing from

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

507 km / 315 mi
522 km / 324 mi
532 km / 331 mi

Arriving at

YVR

Vancouver International Airport

Location Vancouver, Canada
Time zone PDT · UTC−7
Current time

Canada's gateway to the Pacific

Vancouver sits between the Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountains, a compact, glass-towered city with mountains and water visible from much of downtown. The Canada Line SkyTrain runs directly from the airport into downtown in about 25 minutes, part of a transit network that covers the core well. Rain is a defining feature of the climate, especially from fall through spring, while summers are mild and dry. The mountains north of the city offer skiing within an hour's drive, an unusual amenity for a major airport city.

Nearby airports

205 km / 127 mi

Surrounding hubs

1,282 km / 797 mi
1,289 km / 801 mi
1,597 km / 992 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.