Quantcast

Transatlantic flights where you arrive before you leave

American Testing Tech to Help Passengers Make Connecting Flights
Why fuel price crash won’t make flying cheaper
Kristi Noem says travelers without Real ID will still be able to fly after deadline
Frontier Airlines Announces New Routes Launching This Summer, Connecting Baltimore With Chicago O’Hare and Trenton, N.J. With Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Airlines in North America prioritize investments in cyber, AI
Global Airlines & HiFly Operate 1st Passenger Airbus A380 Flight Between Barcelona And Berlin
American Airlines unveils ritzy new plane suites launching this summer
Airline Stocks To Keep An Eye On - April 28th
50 New Routes Starting In May 2025
Report: JetBlue, United Mulling Partnership
New First-Class Suites, Futuristic Aircraft and the Top Air Travel News From April 2025
Southwest Airlines Announces Reimagined Fare Products, New Benefits for Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers and Tier Member Customers
New Alaska Airlines trading cards take flight this World Pilots’ Day - Alaska Airlines News
United CEO calls Trump's tariffs a 'chess game'
Virtual Training Becomes a Reality
Korean Air Restarts Longest 747 Passenger Flight in the World
Flight tickets from Srinagar remain exorbitantly high despite aviation ministry request
RTX Q1 Earnings & Sales Beat Estimates, Increase Year Over Year
Delta faces federal investigation as it scraps hundreds of flights for fifth straight day
Coalition pledges to remove EV tax break two days after Dutton ruled out scrapping it – as it happened
Adani’s airport unit seeks $750 million loan from global banks
GE Aerospace affirms outlook; CEO met with Trump to discuss tariffs
Flight made emergency landing in Denver after reported animal strike and engine fire
General Dynamics says G800 jet receives FAA, EASA certifications
Archer unveils plans for NYC air-taxi network in partnership with United Airlines
United Airlines doubles down on Chicago roots with new O'Hare billboards
ICAO Proposes ‘Journey Pass’ Biometric ID Boarding
Gatwick airport strikes, Easter 2025: will my flight be cancelled?
Boarding passes and check-in could be scrapped in air travel shake-up
The most in Mexico: American Airlines adds 30th destination as part of a record-breaking schedule
Transatlantic flights where you arrive before you leave
Policy
Webp ymhfjf407emv9o42iza31o4oyd1u
Justin Foster Private Aviation Journalist | Simple Flying

Three transatlantic routes arrive up to 30 minutes before departing due to the time zone change being greater than the block time. Fewer than one in 1,000 flights across the Atlantic 'time travel'. An additional 12 links arrive within 60 minutes of leaving (in local time).

Flights that arrive before they leave are intriguing. The most famous examples involved Concorde: BA001 left Heathrow at 10:30 and arrived at New York JFK at 09:25 local time, while AF002 departed Paris CDG at 10:15 and arrived at 08:15. While numerous short-haul examples exist, the situation differs for long-haul flights, including those across the Atlantic.

Using Cirium data to examine all scheduled summer passenger services between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, etc., across the Atlantic to the Americas indicates that just three routes made the cut. They are summarized below.

Get the Newsletter
Sign-up to receive weekly round up of news from Sky Industry News
By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By providing your phone number you are opting in and consenting to receive recurring SMS/MMS messages, including automated texts, to that number from our short code. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to end. SMS opt-in will not be sold, rented, or shared.

Between July 1 and September 21 (the last day of the season for these routes), these three collectively have 81 departures (each way). As such, fewer than one in 1,000 transatlantic flights 'time travel.'

The specific routes are as follows:

- Condor's Frankfurt-Anchorage route departs at various times (14:10-13:50, 14:30-14:10, and 15:00-14:40) and arrives 20 minutes before departure. This service operates thrice weekly with an A330neo and ends for the season on September 14.

- Discover's Frankfurt-Anchorage route departs at 14:20 and arrives at 13:50, arriving 30 minutes before departure. This service operates twice weekly with an A330-300 and ends for the season on September 21.

- Finnair's Helsinki-Seattle route departs at 16:40 and arrives at 16:00, arriving 20 minutes before departure. This service operates thrice weekly with an A350-900 and ends for the season on August 31. The oneworld route began in 2022.

Given so few services arrive before they leave, another table lists transatlantic airport pairs that arrive no more than 60 minutes after taking off (local time). This is based on examining all flights between July and September.

Notably included is Greenland's inclusion using turboprops by Icelandair* operating Keflavik-Kulusuk (Greenland) route from Keflavik departing at different times (17:30-18:15) with a Dash Q400/Q200 aircraft arriving within a timeframe of up to about a maximum of around an hour or less compared to other airline pairs mentioned below.

The specific routes are:

- Air Canada’s Dublin-Vancouver route departs at various times such as (10;15 -11;15) four weekly 787 -9 aircraft

-Ai France’s Paris CDG-Vancouver daily 777 -200ER

-KLM’s Amsterdam-Calgary Daily 777 -200ER

-KLM’s Amsterdam-Edmonton Four times weekly A330 -200

-KLM’s Amsterdam-Vancouver Daily 777 -300ER/777 -200ER

-Icelandair* Keflavik-Kulusuk(Dash Q400/Q200)

-Icelandair Keflavik-Seattle Triple daily from September onwards(757 –200ER )

-Icelandair Keflavik-Vancouver Four weekly(737 MAX8/757 –200ER)

-Lufthansa Frankfurt –Vancouver Daily(747–400)

-WestJet Edinburgh-Calgary Four Weekly(787 –9)

-WestJet Keflavik-Calgary Four Weekly(737MAX8)

###

Organizations Included in this History
More News

Flying Food Group announced on LinkedIn that it recognized its culinary team in celebration of National Culinarians Day.

Jul 28, 2025

Google Flights continues to expand its offerings, according to a recent discussion between The Points Guy and James Byers, group product manager for travel at Google.

Jul 28, 2025

Delta Air Lines has released a statement following the announcement of a new trade agreement between the United States and the European Union.

Jul 28, 2025

Run The Runway took place at Chicago Executive Airport on July 26, 2025.

Jul 28, 2025

Emirates has introduced its new Airbus A350 aircraft to Bologna’s Guglielmo Marconi Airport, marking the first time this model is operated in Italy and making Bologna one of the first ten cities worldwide to receive it.

Jul 28, 2025

Citi has announced a significant partnership with American Airlines, allowing 1:1 point transfers from its ThankYou Rewards program to the airline's AAdvantage loyalty program.

Jul 27, 2025