Night Time Calculator
Free night flying time calculator for pilot logbooks. Enter the departure and arrival airports and the off-block and on-block times (UTC) to get night and day time, and whether the take-off and landing were at night.
Why the route matters
Night does not start at the same moment everywhere. Flying west, you chase the sunset and night begins later; flying east into the night, it comes sooner. That is why the calculator follows the sun along the route instead of only looking at the departure and arrival airports.
Need the block time as well? Use the block time calculator, and total your logbook with the flight time calculator.
Frequently asked questions
›How is night time calculated?
The flight is assumed to follow the great-circle route between the two airports at constant speed. For every minute, the sun's elevation is computed at the aircraft's estimated position; minutes with the sun below the night limit count as night. This is the method most electronic logbooks use.
›What is the definition of night for logging?
Under EASA (Part-FCL) and FAA (14 CFR 1.1) rules, night is the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, when the sun is more than 6° below the horizon. That is the default here. You can switch to sunset/sunrise if your operator uses it.
›What about night landings for FAA currency?
For carrying passengers at night, 14 CFR 61.57(b) counts landings made from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise, which is stricter than civil twilight. Check the landing time against those times separately.
›How accurate is the result?
Real routes are rarely exact great circles, so expect a few minutes of difference on long flights. The sun position itself is accurate to a fraction of a degree. Use the result for your logbook, not for operational decisions.
›What if the flight lands the next day?
Enter the on-block time as it is: if it is earlier than the off-block time, the calculator assumes the flight landed the next day (UTC).
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