Distance from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai
The great-circle distance between Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Shanghai, China is 6,539 km (4,063 mi · 3,531 nmi) — the shortest possible route over the Earth's surface, the path aircraft approximately follow.
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 6,539 km · 4,063 mi · 3,531 nmi
- Initial bearing Abu Dhabi → Shanghai
- 67° (ENE)
- Initial bearing Shanghai → Abu Dhabi
- 281° (WNW)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 8 h 21 min
- Time zones
- Abu Dhabi UTC+04:00 · Shanghai UTC+08:00 (+4 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 258 min — the sun rises later in Abu Dhabi
Flight time is a cruise-speed approximation (no routing/wind); driving distance depends on roads and is typically 20–40% longer than great-circle.
The two cities
- Abu Dhabi
- 24.4512, 54.3970
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 02:34 UTC / 13:40 UTC
- Shanghai
- 31.2222, 121.4581
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 22:16 UTC / 09:02 UTC
Open in the distance calculator Find the halfway point
Distances here are straight-line (great-circle). Road routes typically run 1.2–1.4× longer — here's why, with the visual.