Double Your Happy New Year With These Time Travel Flights From 2025 To 2024

Joyous celebrations around the globe often mark the arrival of a new year, but what if you could celebrate it twice? By crossing the International Date Line (IDL),

certain flights allow passengers to effectively “travel back in time,” departing on January 1 and landing on December 31 of the previous year.

These extraordinary journeys offer the rare opportunity to toast the New Year in two locations twice. Let’s explore these time-traveling flights.

Why fly across the IDL on New Year’s Eve?

Flights “time travel” across the IDL year round, but it’s the New Year’s Eve flights that get special attention.
For aviation enthusiasts and adventurous travelers, these flights represent the ultimate opportunity for a double celebration by taking advantage of time zones and modern air travel capabilities.

Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock

The IDL marks the boundary between one calendar day and the next. Traveling eastward across the IDL subtracts 24 hours from the clock, meaning passengers flying from locations such as Tokyo or Sydney to Hawaii can “move back in time.”

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These flights take place year-round, but on New Year’s Day they allow passengers to ring in the new year at their departure city and then again at their destination. As previously reported on Simple Flying, these New Year’s time-travel flights reflect the precision and complexity of modern aviation, aligning schedules, geography, and physics to create a once-a-year opportunity for travelers to enjoy a truly unique celebration.

Who are the key players enabling these flights?

Several airlines and geographic hubs make time travel possible. International carriers such as All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, and United generally operate routes that cross the IDL through their extensive Pacific long-haul route networks.

Flights from major Asia-Pacific hubs like Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong to the west coast of North America offer several opportunities to celebrate the new year twice.

On the other hand, some flights will never celebrate New Years Eve all together!

A few flights departing on January 1st, 2025 to arrive on the 31st of December 2024:

As you can see from the table, some of these time-travel flights may require you to toast to 2025 for the first time at the airport—just head over to the lounge for some bubbly. After landing, you can still enjoy a full New Year’s Eve party with friends and family.

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Have You Ever Flown Across The International Date Line?

Long-haul flights can be a confusing experience for an individual’s personal body clock, with the distances flown and changes in time zone often meaning passengers have to sleep at unnatural times or stay awake longer than they might like to. When flying across the Pacific Ocean, there is also the added complication of crossing the international date line.

For those traveling westward, such as from North America to Asia, crossing the international date line sees the local time jump forward by 24 hours, or a full day. Correspondingly, passengers flying eastward across the Pacific effectively travel 24 hours back in time, allowing them to, for example, celebrate the new year twice if they pick a well-timed flight.

As the furthest west that I have flown has been to the US West Coast, I’ve never been in any danger of crossing this fabled boundary. However, I do think that the novelty of doing so would be something worth writing home about, and thus I hope to do so one day. Have you ever

How does the international date line work?

The International Date Line runs roughly along the 180th meridian, separating calendar days. Crossing it with an eastward heading subtracts 24 hours from a traveler’s local time. For example, a flight departing Tokyo late on January 1 can land in Honolulu on December 31 with the timezone shift.

Understanding the International Date Line

While most travelers experience timezone changes on long-haul flights, the IDL offers a more dramatic version of this phenomenon, effectively resetting the calendar day. Airlines schedule these flights to ensure passengers experience the full effect of the time-travel illusion. The alignment of flight paths, speed, and departure times with the IDL crossing is essential to delivering this unique experience.

What’s It Like Crossing The International Date Line On A Flight?

The grand journey across the Pacific Ocean.

The in-flight celebration factor

These flights aren’t just about the technical marvel but also about the joy of celebrating the New Year twice. Passengers often enjoy countdowns in the air, toasts of champagne, and festive meals. Many airlines embrace the novelty by enhancing the onboard experience, adding extra excitement to an already unique journey.

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Where are the best routes to experience these flights?

Several key routes around the Pacific make these time-travel flights possible. These flights typically involve departures in the Asia-Pacific region and arrivals in Hawaii or the western United States.

Photo: Adomas Daunoravicius | Shutterstock

Tokyo to Honolulu

One of the most popular routes for time-travel flights is from Tokyo (Narita) to Honolulu. Airlines such as Japan Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines operate this route, with flights departing Tokyo late on January 1 and landing in Honolulu on December 31. The route offers a perfect combination of culture, geography, and celebration. Travelers can experience New Year’s traditions in Japan before heading to Hawaii to enjoy fireworks, beach parties, and Hawaiian-style festivities.

Sydney to Honolulu

For travelers from Australia, flights departing Sydney on January 1 and arriving in Honolulu on December 31 provide a similar experience. These routes, often operated by Qantas and Hawaiian Airlines, attract travelers looking to escape the Australian summer heat while enjoying the novelty of celebrating the New Year twice.

These routes also appeal to families and vacationers who want to combine a unique travel experience with a Hawaiian holiday.

Seoul to Los Angeles or San Francisco

Flights from Seoul (Incheon) to Los Angeles or San Francisco are another example of time-travel routes. While these flights are less commonly associated with the New Year’s phenomenon, they still give passengers a similar opportunity to celebrate twice.

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Why do these flights resonate with travelers?

The allure of these flights lies in the chance to defy the clock and relive time itself, which is a bucket-list experience.

• A Shared Sense of Adventure: Passengers on these flights often describe a sense of camaraderie and shared excitement. The opportunity to celebrate the New Year twice creates a festive atmosphere onboard, with many passengers bonding over the shared novelty of the experience.
• A Bucket-List Opportunity: For avid travelers, these flights are a rare opportunity to tick a unique experience off their bucket lists.

How can you book a New Year’s flight?

Securing a seat on a time-travel flight requires some planning. These flights are prevalent and sell out quickly, especially as New Year’s approaches.

• Early Planning: Tools like Kayak can help travelers find flight schedules and identify the best opportunities to experience a time-travel flight. Be sure to book well in advance to secure a spot on these unique flights. Many airlines open bookings months ahead, and the most desirable routes tend to fill quickly.
• Tracking Flights: Tracking these time-travel New Year’s flights on Flightradar24 as they happen can add a layer of excitement for aviation enthusiasts on New Year’s Eve.

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Celebrating the magic of time-travel flights

Time-travel flights highlight the capabilities of modern aviation, and the speed of air travel makes these unique journeys possible.

Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock

Why settle for one New Year’s celebration when you can have two? For those seeking adventure and novelty, time-travel flights are the ultimate way to ring in the New Year—twice.

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