Traveling One Year Back in Time
✓ At first glance, an aircraft departing from Hong Kong in 2026 and landing in Los Angeles in 2025 may seem like time travel, but this situation is entirely explained by time zones and the International Date Line.
✓ On long-haul flights operated eastbound over the Pacific Ocean, when an aircraft crosses the International Date Line, the calendar moves back by one day. For this reason, an aircraft departing Hong Kong on January 1, 2026 at 01:00 can land in Los Angeles around 20:00 on the evening of December 31, 2025 after an approximately 12-hour flight.
✓ This situation does not result from a violation of any physical law or from an extraordinary event. It is purely a consequence of the Earth’s rotation on its axis and the way humans divide time into regions.
✓ For passengers on such flights, the most interesting detail is the possibility of celebrating New Year’s Eve twice. Passengers first enter the new year in Asia and then experience the same night once again after arriving on the American continent.
