About the numbers
All figures are computed from your flights by simple, documented formulas. They are estimates, not measurements.
Distance
Great-circle distance between the two airports' coordinates, using the haversine formula and a mean Earth radius of 6,371 km. Real flights fly longer routes (wind, airways, airspace); the numbers shown are the direct distance.
Flight time
When the actual departure and arrival times are known, the duration is taken from them.
Otherwise it is estimated as distance / 800 km/h × 60 + 30
minutes (cruise speed plus taxi, take-off and landing). Totals that include estimates are shown with a
“~”, and the dashboard says how much of your flight time is estimated.
CO₂
CO₂e (kg) = distance (km) × factor (kg CO₂e per passenger-km) × cabin-class multiplier.
Factors: DEFRA/BEIS UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2024, v1.1, sheet “Business travel – air”, “Average passenger” rows (publication page, spreadsheet). The values below are read from the same file the calculation uses.
| Band | Distance | Without RF | With RF | DEFRA category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | < 1,500 km | 0.10974 | 0.18592 | Short-haul, to/from UK, Average passenger |
| Medium | 1,500–4,000 km | 0.10377 | 0.1758 | International, to/from non-UK, Average passenger |
| Long | > 4,000 km | 0.15423 | 0.26128 | Long-haul, to/from UK, Average passenger |
DEFRA defines haul by geography, not distance, and has no medium category, so mapping the bands to distance is a simplification of ours.
| Cabin class | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Economy | × 1 |
| Premium economy | × 1.5 |
| Business | × 3 |
| First | × 4 |
The class multipliers are rounded planning values applied on top of the all-class average factor; DEFRA's own class factors differ by haul.
Radiative forcing (RF)
“With RF” adds the indirect, non-CO₂ effects of aviation at altitude (contrails, NOx, water vapour); DEFRA applies +70 % to the CO₂ part. This is scientifically uncertain, so the default is without RF. The dashboard has a toggle, remembered on your device.
The factors include DEFRA's 8 % uplift for indirect routing and assume an average load factor. Aircraft type, actual load and fuel burn are not considered.
Fun facts
- Around the Earth: total km / 40,075 km.
- To the Moon: total km / 384,400 km.
- Towards the Sun: total km / 149,597,870 km, shown in percent.
- Days in the air: total minutes / 60 / 24.
- Top routes ignore direction (VIE–LHR and LHR–VIE are the same route); top airports count departures and arrivals.
- Favourite seat ignores “unknown”. Ties go to the value that appeared first.
- Leisure = vacation + private. Flights without an airline are left out of the airline lists.
- Continents come from each airport's country; countries and airports count distinct places.
Data sources and credits
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Airlines: OpenFlights (ODbL).
- Basemap: OpenFreeMap, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Earth imagery on the 3D globe: NASA Earth Observatory (Blue Marble, Black Marble).
- Flight lookup: AeroDataBox.