Cathay Pacific Flight 880 welcomes new year twice © Abhishek Singh
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In a fascinating display of global timekeeping perks, Cathay Pacific passengers were able to ring in the new year twice. Cathay Pacific Flight 880 was able to travel back in time. Departing from Hong Kong in 2025 and landing in Los Angeles in 2024, the flight technically went back in time. This unique occurrence, often dubbed the “date line effect” would have made for, not one but two, unforgettable New Year’s Eves for passengers aboard the flight.
Trans-Pacific Transit and Time Warps
The Boeing 777-300ER took off from Hong Kong International Airport just after midnight on January 1 2025, local time. After a journey spanning approximately 12 hours and crossing multiple time zones, the aircraft touched down at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). With a time difference of 16 hours between Hong Kong and LA, the flight landed at LAX at 8.30pm on December 31, 2024, arriving about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.
This apparent time travel is rendered possible by the International Date Line (IDL), an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole through the Pacific Ocean. The IDL represents the boundary between one calendar day and the next. For this reason, when crossing the IDL from west to east, travellers are effectively gaining a day, creating the illusion of going back in time. This phenomenon allowed the lucky passengers on Flight 880 to observe the arrival of 2025 twice.
Cathay Pacific flight 880 takes off in 2025 and lands back in 2024 © Yiran Yang
Not Alone in the Time Warp
While Cathay Pacific Flight 880 garnered significant attention, it’s not the only flight to have experienced the time warp. Other eastbound trans-Pacific flights regularly cross the IDL, enabling passengers to “time travel” in a similar fashion. Hawaiian Airlines, Air New Zealand and Fiji Airways are among the other airlines that operated flights, effectively travelling back in time to 2024. Meanwhile, westbound flights will have missed the New Year celebrations completely.
