# Flights that arrive at the same time as when they departed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910 "2012-07-21T00:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/21 "2012-07-23T03:17:57Z")
> [@Jaclofo](#): > > “The time zone in Medan was 30 minutes behind Georgetown” > > Are there 30 minute time zones? I thought time zones were 60 minutes apart??? > > Help. Im confused!!😕 You are very mistaken. Thailand is 30 minutes ahead of neighboring Burma. Oddest of all may be Nepal, which is 15 minutes ahead neighboring India (some say this is to emphasize its independence from its large neighbor) and 1 hour, 15 minutes behind Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/22 "2012-07-23T03:42:07Z")
I have taken the Wellington/Sydney flight on several occasions when the time difference has been three hours, which is pretty much equal to the length of the flight. So a 4.00pm departure from Wellington results in a 4.00pm arrival in Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/23 "2012-07-24T13:21:02Z")
What about the flight that arrives the longest before it takes off? I’m guessing it would be between two islands close to the date line - probably Samoa (UTC +13) to American Samoa (UTC-11), since Samoa shifted the date line last year. In summer, Samoa observes daylight saving time, at UTC+14, so it is 25 hours ahead of American Samoa. The flight time between the two appears to be [35 minutes](https://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=fgi+to+ppg+flights&oq=fgi+to+ppg+flights&gs_l=hp.3..0i8.10217.12237.1.12331.18.18.0.0.0.0.126.1146.16j2.18.0...0.0...1c.ikInSZJIx_o&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=1066ca8f06af291a&biw=1197&bih=640), so you’d arrive 24 hours 25 minutes before you left. [Polynesian](http://www.polynesianairlines.com) flies this route, e.g: > [@](#): > > FAGALII SAMOA FAGALII INT AIRPORT to PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA TAFUNA INT. AIRPORT. Flight PAO - 212 dep 11Aug2012 07:30 arr 10Aug2012 08:05 So you arrive 23 hours 25 minutes before you leave (currently it is winter in Samoa, so now DST). The booking engine doesn’t seem to extend to the southern summer months at the moment. In theory, in the southern summer you could land two calendar days before you left, if there were flights close after midnight, e.g. Depart Fagalii November 27, 00.10 hours, arrive Pago Pago November 25, 23:45 hours! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/24 "2012-07-24T13:38:30Z")
Samoa is only ~14°S. Why on Earth would they need to have DST? I found a [page](http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/samoa-dst-plan-2009.html) which talks about their 2009 law to adopt DST which lists the usual reasons a country far from the equator would do DST, but 14°? Does anyone really notice the change in daylight? The Big Island is 19°N and Hawaii doesn’t observe DST. At least American Samoa doesn’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/25 "2012-07-24T14:00:27Z")
Flights from Helsinki to Stockholm pass over one timezone (UTC+2 to UTC+1, in DST it’s UTC+3 to UTC+2) and take about one hour, so they are often scheduled to arrive exactly the same time they leave. Examples include the 8:00 am, 9:30 am, 4:00 pm and 5:55 pm flights, among others. I guess there are a lot of examples of this in cases where the distance between two airports on neighboring timezones or even further away matches just correctly, and you are flying from an earlier timezone to a later one. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/26 "2012-07-24T14:09:51Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > At the North and South Pole you can do this on foot. “What if it was on a Friday during Daylight Savings Time in a leap year, Fadder…?” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/27 "2012-07-24T14:14:22Z")
I once flew from Sydney, AUS, stopped for about 1.5 hours for fuel in Honolulu, HI, then flew to Los Angeles, CA, where we landed over an hour before we had left Sydney. Also on that trip, I lost a Saturday when I left, and gained a Monday on the return leg. (above) That is screwed up, and I have felt gypped ever since. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/28 "2012-07-24T14:38:48Z")
London-Paris, c. one hour flight, Paris one hour ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910/29 "2012-07-24T14:54:24Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Samoa is only ~14°S. Why on Earth would they need to have DST? I was wondering the same thing. Bragging rights to have the earliest time zone, I suppose (although even with the extra hour it ties with Kiribati and Tokelau on that score). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flights-that-arrive-at-the-same-time-as-when-they-departed/628910.md?page=1)