Flights San Diego → Honolulu
SAN → HNL
How long is the flight from San Diego to Honolulu?
The flight from San Diego (SAN) to Honolulu (HNL) takes 5h 41m on average. That is the median time recorded across 3 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from San Diego to Honolulu operates with an average on-time performance rate of 73%, experiencing a mean delay of 16.3 minutes per flight. Over the past year, there have been 447 flights on this route using Airbus A330-200 aircraft, departing from San Diego International Airport, which has been in operation since 1928, and arriving at Honolulu's airport, one of the busiest airports in the United States with over 21 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The San Diego (SAN) → Honolulu (HNL) route is operated by Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines. Across 1086 flights monitored in recent months, 70% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 17 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.39%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 25.8/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Honolulu the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from San Diego the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Honolulu: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Diego (SAN) to Honolulu (HNL) heads west for about 4,201 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 41m.
Departures from San Diego on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 54% of SAN-HNL flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Diego the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Honolulu it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,086 tracked SAN-HNL flights, 70% left on time with an average delay of 17 min and a 2.4% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
Check the risk of a specific flight.
Flexible on this trip? Compare flights
Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| Hawaiian Airlines (HA) | 78% | 11 min | 1.5% |
Airlines operating SAN-HNL
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SAN-HNL
The flight from San Diego (SAN) to Honolulu (HNL) takes 5h 41m on average. That is the median time recorded across 3 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the San Diego (SAN) -> Honolulu (HNL) route, on-time performance is 70% with an average delay of 17 minutes, based on 1086 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Diego-Honolulu is 2.39% across 1086 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Honolulu, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
