ET608 distance and great-circle path
ET608 covers 8,331 km, or 5,177 miles. That makes it a long-haul flight, a widebody route with a full night's flying time. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 131 by distance.
The plane leaves Addis Ababa heading north-east. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the ADD-PEK route appears on a tracker map.
Why ET608 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 10.6 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 787 km/h. A Boeing 787-9 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Flying east, this route usually picks up tailwinds high up. The flight back west normally takes longer, even though the distance is identical. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Boeing 787-9 comfortably fly ET608?
Not really. It uses about 59% of the Boeing 787-9's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 787-9.
What to know about ET608
- Time change: you land 5 hours ahead of the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.
- High airport at the start: ADD sits 7,656 ft up. Thin air means a longer takeoff run.