KE81 distance and great-circle path
KE81 covers 11,090 km, or 6,891 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 255 routes we track, it ranks 39 by distance.
The plane leaves Seoul heading north. 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 ICN–JFK route appears on a tracker map.
Why KE81 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 14.0 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 792 km/h. A Boeing 747-8I cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Winds aloft shift the real flight time by up to an hour in either direction. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Boeing 747-8I comfortably fly KE81?
Not really. It uses about 77% of the Boeing 747-8I's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 747-8I.
What to know about KE81
- Time change: you land 13 hours behind the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.
- Crosses the date line: the calendar date changes while you are in the air.
- Flies far north: the real path runs much closer to the pole than a flat map suggests.