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Kailua-Kona → Salt Lake City

KOA–SLC · Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport to Salt Lake City International Airport

Best bet

Either side

Both sides workThe two sides come out close to level.

Both sides have something going for them, and the totals come out close enough that picking one would be a coin flip with extra steps.

Flight paths move around. Treat this as the better bet, not a promise.

What you might see

In flight order, with distance measured from the representative route.

KOA to SLC: where each landmark sits relative to the routeA diagram of the representative route running left to right, with the departure airport at the left and the arrival airport at the right. Landmarks on the left side of the aircraft are plotted above the route line and landmarks on the right side below it, each at its distance from the route. The numbered list below this diagram carries the same information as text.KOASLCLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 61 miles); the shaded ends are the 40-mile zones around each airport where the runway in use decides the view. Numbers match the list below. Hollow markers didn't count toward the recommendation.

  1. Mauna Loa

    RightEarly32 mi off the route

    Mauna Loa sits close enough to KOA that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. Mauna Kea

    RightEarly19 mi off the route

    Whether Mauna Kea appears comes down to how you get out of KOA, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

  3. Golden Gate

    RightThree quarters9 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Golden Gate, about 9 miles out.

    Strong candidate

  4. Lake Tahoe

    LeftNear the end23 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Lake Tahoe sits roughly 23 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

Show 5 more along the way (Kīlauea, Haleakalā, Point Reyes, San Francisco Bay, Great Salt Lake)

Further off the route, closer to an airport, or both. Still in flight order, still numbered to match the diagram.

  1. Kīlauea

    RightEarly48 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Kīlauea sits roughly 48 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  2. Haleakalā

    LeftEarly61 mi off the route

    Look left early in the flight for Haleakalā, about 61 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  3. Point Reyes

    LeftThree quarters14 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Point Reyes sits roughly 14 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  4. San Francisco Bay

    RightThree quarters24 mi off the route

    San Francisco Bay is about 24 miles off the right, about three quarters of the way.

    Distant possibility

  5. Great Salt Lake

    LeftNear the end34 mi off the route

    Look left late in the flight for Great Salt Lake, about 34 miles out.

    Good possibility

The sun

Flying soon? Add your date and departure time and we'll work out where the sun should be, and which side gets less of it.

Airport codes or city names. SEA, Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma all work.

Skip the date and you still get the landmark answer. Add it and we work out where the sun will be, using the departure airport's local time.

The route we used

2,963 mi
Great-circle distance
7
Landmarks that counted

That is the shortest path between the two airports, used as a representative corridor rather than a flight plan. The first and last 40 miles are treated as uncertain, because that part of the flight is shaped by the runway in use and the published departure or arrival procedure. Anything in those zones is listed and marked, never counted toward the recommendation.

Left and right, from where?

Left and right are from your perspective sitting in the cabin, facing the front of the aircraft. Seat letters are not a reliable guide to which side you are on, because aircraft are configured differently.

Why this isn't guaranteed

Flights don't follow the same path every day. Runway configuration, weather deviations, traffic, and air traffic control all move the track around, and none of it is knowable in advance. We also have nothing to say about cloud cover, which is the other thing standing between you and Mount Rainier. The full method.

Flying the other way?

Salt Lake City → Kailua-KonaEither side

Calculated from scratch, not by flipping this one. The landmarks arrive in the opposite order, the sun is somewhere else entirely, and the answer changes with them.

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