Barcelona to New York distance

Barcelona to New York in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Barcelona and New York are 6,182 km (3,841 mi) apart, 15% of the way around the Earth at the equator. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”. There’s no road between them: the straight line crosses 5,328 km of sea, 86% of the way.

From Barcelona, New York lies to the northwest (bearing 297°), and from New York, Barcelona lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches New York on a bearing of 242°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (54° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (269°, to the west), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 6,405 km (3,980 mi), 223 km more (3.6% longer). That’s why long routes don’t look “straight” on a map: the curve is the short way.

What the route flies over

Under the straight line there are 5,328 km of sea (86%) and 855 km of land. In order, from Barcelona: 555 km over Spain, 85.0 km over Canada, and 215 km over the United States.

The straight line climbs to 47.9° N (at 47.9211° N, 35.0386° W), 6.5° farther north than Barcelona: on a sphere that’s the short way, even if it looks like a detour on a flat map. Planes don’t follow the line exactly: they fly along airways, chase tailwinds and avoid closed airspace, but on long flights they stay close to it.

Halfway between Barcelona and New York

Halfway along the straight line, 3,091 km (1,921 mi) from each city, is the point 47.9160° N, 36.1415° W. It falls at sea; the nearest town is Santa Cruz das Flores (Azores, Portugal, pop. 1,725), 1,022 km away.

Time difference and flight

A direct flight would take about 8 hr 15 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 6,182 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight. Westbound flights usually take a little longer than eastbound ones because of high-altitude winds (the jet stream).

New York is 6 hours behind Barcelona all year (Eastern Time versus Central European Time): when it’s 12:00 in Barcelona, it’s 6:00 in New York.

With that flight time, if you leave Barcelona at 10:00, you land in New York around 12:15 (New York time).

The two cities

New York is 0.7° farther south than Barcelona and 76.2° farther west. They sit at almost the same elevation: 13 m (43 ft) and 35 ft (11 m). Barcelona has 1.7 million people (INE population register, January 1, 2025) and New York 8.6 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).