Cathay Pacific Flight 880 provided an extraordinary display of time travel across the International Date Line. Passengers boarded the flight in Hong Kong on January 1, 2025, and landed in Los Angeles on December 31, 2024.
The 12-hour flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles became unique due to its crossing of the International Date Line. This crossing caused the flight to effectively skip a day. Passengers departed in the future and arrived in the past.
The flight left Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) just after midnight on January 1, 2025. As the plane crossed the Pacific, passengers were unaware of the time anomaly ahead. Midway through the journey, the plane crossed the International Date Line. This caused the plane to “reverse” time, taking the passengers back a day.
Cathay Pacific Flight 880 arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) shortly before 8:30 p.m. on December 31, 2024. It landed 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Passengers stepped off the plane hours before the global celebration of the New Year, creating a surreal experience.
While crossing time zones is common for international flights, the unusual combination of departure and arrival times made this journey a rare occurrence. Passengers were able to experience a brief "time travel" moment as they journeyed from the future back into the past.
The International Date Line, located along the 180th meridian in the Pacific Ocean, separates one calendar day from the next. This invisible boundary is crucial for coordinating global time. The flight’s crossing of the International Date Line offered passengers an unforgettable experience