Flights Zurich → San Francisco
ZRH → SFO
How long is the flight from Zurich to San Francisco?
The flight from Zurich (ZRH) to San Francisco (SFO) takes about 12h 8m. This is an estimate based on the distance between the two airports: the real time depends on the aircraft, wind and any stops.
Route overview
The flight route operates from Zurich, where the airport opened in 1948, to San Francisco. The destination city's airport serves over 50 million passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in the United States. The journey is conducted using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft.
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 Zurich (ZRH) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by Swiss International Air Lines, United Airlines. Across 27 flights monitored in recent months, 22% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 28 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.00%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 15.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Zurich the average ATFM delay is 0.7 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Zurich (ZRH) to San Francisco (SFO) heads north-west for about 9,376 km, a flight time of roughly 12h 8m.
Departures from Zurich on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 100% of ZRH-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Zurich the average ATFM delay is 0.7 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 27 tracked ZRH-SFO flights, 22% left on time with an average delay of 28 min and a 0.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
| Swiss International Air Lines (LX) | 44% | 36 min | 1.6% |
Airlines operating ZRH-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about ZRH-SFO
The flight from Zurich (ZRH) to San Francisco (SFO) takes about 12h 8m. This is an estimate based on the distance between the two airports: the real time depends on the aircraft, wind and any stops.
On the Zurich (ZRH) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 22% with an average delay of 28 minutes, based on 27 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Zurich-San Francisco is 0.00% across 27 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: Swiss International Air Lines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at San Francisco, 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.
