Take Off In 2025 But Landing In 2024? New Year’s Hong Kong To Los Angeles Flight Gives Passengers A Unique Experience

Let’s be honest, we have all dreamed of time travel at least once in our lives! And it looks like passengers of a Cathay Pacific flight recently got to experience this recently. The flight departed from Hong Kong on January 1, 2025, and landed in Los Angeles on December 31, 2024. Scroll on to know more about this.

Cathay Pacific Flight Flies Back In Time On New Year

Cathay Pacific Flight 880 flew back in time recently. According to Lokmat Times, the flight took off in 2025 and landed in 2024, actually flying back in time with its passengers! What happened was that the Cathay Pacific flight departed from Hong Kong International Airport just after midnight (local time) on January 1, 2025. The plane made its way over the Pacific Ocean, crossing the International Date Line about halfway through the 12-hour trip. It then landed at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 8:30 PM on December 31, 2024.

Time differences during international travel are quite common. However, this unique combination of departure and arrival time made this experience quite unforgettable for the passengers. It gave them all a rare “time travel” opportunity where they actually went back a year!

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More About International Date Line

This unique time travel experience happened after the Cathay Pacific flight crossed the International Date Line. The International Date Line is a line extending between the South and North Poles. Although not officially declared, it is widely accepted as the separation between the Eastern and Western hemispheres and the boundary between one calendar day and the next.

According to Wikipedia, it passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180° line of longitude. So, when a flight passes through this line, passengers experience a “time travel” moment. The National US Ocean Service explains that when a flight crosses the date line, the passengers become time travellers by chance. They further added, “Cross to the west and it’s one day later; cross back and you’ve ‘gone back in time’.

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Have you experienced something like this while travelling internationally? Let us know in the comments.

Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons