Honolulu (HNL) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 3,860 km
- 2,399 mi · 2,084 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 3 min / 5 h 30 min
- Average gate to gate: HNL → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 2 h / 3 h
- January / July
- CO2 per passenger
- 451 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (267 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,144,426
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −4.4%
- Flights / week
- 95
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 88%
- 1,298,947 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 3
- UA, AS, HA
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from HNL
- 54°
- Heading from SFO
- 252°
- Halfway point
- 30.69, -141.63
- Great-circle km
- 3,857 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air HNL → SFO
- 4 h 35 min
- In the air SFO → HNL
- 4 h 58 min
- Clocks
- 2 h in January, 3 h in July
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 20 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 109,008 |
| Sep 2025 | 79,352 |
| Oct 2025 | 95,796 |
| Nov 2025 | 79,724 |
| Dec 2025 | 99,361 |
| Jan 2026 | 83,680 |
| Feb 2026 | 74,344 |
| Mar 2026 | 97,363 |
| Apr 2026 | 92,283 |
| May 2026 | 94,909 |
| Jun 2026 | 116,842 |
| Jul 2026 | 121,764 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 409 |
| Sep 2025 | 297 |
| Oct 2025 | 367 |
| Nov 2025 | 341 |
| Dec 2025 | 437 |
| Jan 2026 | 384 |
| Feb 2026 | 334 |
| Mar 2026 | 432 |
| Apr 2026 | 415 |
| May 2026 | 430 |
| Jun 2026 | 540 |
| Jul 2026 | 555 |
Airlines flying HNL–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 69 | 75% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 16 | 15% |
| HAHawaiian Airlines | 10 | 10% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 1,241 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 935 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 747 flights
- Boeing 777-300/300ER/333ER · 738 flights
- Airbus Industrie A330-200 · 702 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 489 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 55 flights
- B787-900 Dreamliner · 12 flights
Also carried: 14,455 tonnes of freight and 515 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 80.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 13 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.9%
- Flights counted
- 4,931
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 85.3% | 11 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 68.4% | 19 min |
| HAHawaiian Airlines | 70.8% | 18 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 53% · aircraft arriving late 33% · air traffic system 13% · weather 0% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,857 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.