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Flight Connection Time

Free Flight Connection Time calculator with clear step-by-step results.

About Flight Connection Time

A layover is not connection time. The clock starts when the aircraft door opens, not at the scheduled arrival, and it stops when boarding closes rather than at departure — so a 95-minute layover with a 20-minute boarding cutoff really offers 75 minutes. Subtract deplaning and terminal transfer, plus immigration and re-screening on an international-to-domestic connection, and add the delay you realistically expect on the inbound leg. What is left is the actual buffer.

Formulas

Time consumed

Required = transfer + immigration and screening + boarding cutoff

Buffer

Buffer = (layover − expected inbound delay) − required

Worked example

With the default values below, Flight Connection Time returns Spare Time at the Gate of 5. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Scheduled layoverminimum 0 min
95 min
Deplaning and terminal transferminimum 0 min
25 min
Immigration, customs and re-screeningminimum 0 min
30 min
Boarding closes before departureminimum 0 min
20 min
Expected inbound delayminimum 0 min
15 min

Results

Spare Time at the Gate
5 min
Time the Connection Consumes
75 min
Layover After Inbound Delay
80 min
Assessment
Very tight — you will likely be last to board

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Time consumed
  3. 3Buffer
  4. 4Spare Time at the Gate= 5 min
  5. 5Time the Connection Consumes= 75 min
  6. 6Layover After Inbound Delay= 80 min
  7. 7Assessment= Very tight — you will likely be last to board

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to whole numbers, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
  • Minimum connection times, terminal layouts and border procedures differ by airport and itinerary. Verify with the airline and the airport before booking a tight connection, and treat this as planning guidance only.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Minimum connection times, terminal layouts and border procedures differ by airport and itinerary. Verify with the airline and the airport before booking a tight connection, and treat this as planning guidance only.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a minimum connection time?

Each airport publishes an MCT for each connection type, and airlines will not sell an itinerary below it — typically 30-45 minutes domestic-to-domestic and 60-90 minutes where you clear immigration and recheck bags. Meeting the MCT means the itinerary is legal, not that it is comfortable.

What happens if I miss the connection?

On a single ticket the airline is obliged to rebook you, and duty-of-care rules may apply. On two separate tickets you have no such protection and would normally have to buy a new fare, which is why self-transfers need a much larger buffer.

Does a negative buffer mean I will definitely miss it?

No, but you are relying on things going better than planned. Treat a negative result as a prompt to pick a later onward flight, or to accept the risk knowingly.

Related Calculators

Flight Connection Time – Calculate Spare Time at the Gate