Madrid to New York distance

Madrid to New York in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Madrid and New York are 5,783 km (3,594 mi) apart, 14% 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 5,124 km of sea, 89% of the way.

From Madrid, New York lies to the northwest (bearing 295°), and from New York, Madrid lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches New York on a bearing of 246°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (49° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (270°, to the west), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 5,955 km (3,700 mi), 171 km more (3.0% 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 5,124 km of sea (89%) and 660 km of land. In order, from Madrid: 290 km over Spain, 185 km over Portugal, and 185 km over the United States.

The straight line climbs to 46.3° N (at 46.3407° N, 39.2611° W), 5.6° farther north than New York: 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 Madrid and New York

Halfway along the straight line, 2,892 km (1,797 mi) from each city, is the point 46.3395° N, 38.7603° W. It falls at sea; the nearest town is Santa Cruz das Flores (Azores, Portugal, pop. 1,725), 985 km away.

Time difference and flight

A direct flight would take about 7 hr 45 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 5,783 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 Madrid all year (Eastern Time versus Central European Time): when it’s 12:00 in Madrid, it’s 6:00 in New York.

With that flight time, if you leave Madrid at 10:00, you land in New York around 11:45 (New York time).

The two cities

New York is 0.3° farther north than Madrid and 70.3° farther west. Madrid sits at 645 m (2,116 ft) and New York at 35 ft (11 m). Madrid has 3.5 million people (INE population register, January 1, 2025) and New York 8.6 million people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).