Eclipse flight checker
Will I see the eclipse from my plane?
Often, yes. Type your two airports (a code like LGW, a name or a city), the date and your take-off time. We follow your flight minute by minute: how much of the Sun the Moon covers from the plane, when to look, which side to sit, and whether the Sun is too high to see. Every solar and lunar eclipse to 2030, blood moons included.
Total solarYes: 3 min 59 s of totality from your window.About 2 h 47 min after take-off, over the sea, about 450 km north-east of Funchal, your plane flies through the Moon's shadow during the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027.
Totality
3 min 59 s
09:37:16–09:41:15 BST, from your window
Sit on the
Left
a little behind the wing
The Sun
31° up
in the east: easy from a window
Eclipse from the window
08:43–10:41
BST; the partial phases need glasses
Path of totality (on the ground) Your route, the direct one Your totality, 09:37:16–09:41:15 Airports
Which side, and when
Seat, view, timesAt 09:39 your plane is heading south-south-west and the Sun is in the east, 31° up, a little behind the wing. Any left window seat works; the other side sees nothing.
Look for Venus just above the black Sun, Mercury higher up and Jupiter low near the horizon. The horizon glows orange all the way round: that is daylight beyond the Moon's shadow.
- 06:50Take-off from Gatwick
- 08:43The eclipse begins: glasses on
- 09:37:16–09:41:15Totality: glasses off, only now
- 09:41:15The Sun is back: glasses on again
- 10:41The eclipse ends
- 10:53At the gate in Tenerife (WEST)
Share this checkReminders, city times and the live view: 2 Aug 2027
A window is not a filter
Look at the partial phases only through certified eclipse glasses. Take them off only during totality, and put them back on as soon as the bright Sun returns. Never look through a camera or binoculars without a solar filter. How to watch safely
We assume the direct route at a typical cruising height and speed. Real routes bend around weather and airspace and take-offs slip, so allow a few minutes either way, and check again in the week of your flight. Times are local to the airport you leave from unless marked.
Flights that cross the path on 2 August 2027
Take-off timesWe checked popular routes at every take-off time on the day. Take off inside the gold window and a window seat flies through totality; the white mark is the take-off time with the longest view. Tap a route to open its full check.
12 of 22
popular routes fly through totality
Left
window, on every one of them
06:30–07:25
take-off, UK and Ireland, local time
4 min 22 s
the longest: Gatwick to Marrakesh
- MAN to TFSManchester to Tenerife South 06:30–06:45 BST 3 min 55 stotality Leftwindow 29–30°Sun up
- LGW to FNCGatwick to Madeira 06:30–06:50 BST 3 min 53 stotality Leftwindow 27–29°Sun up
- DUB to LPADublin to Gran Canaria 06:35–06:55 IST 4 min 3 stotality Leftwindow 29–31°Sun up
- LGW to TFSGatwick to Tenerife South 06:40–07:00 BST 3 min 59 stotality Leftwindow 30–31°Sun up
- BHX to FUEBirmingham to Fuerteventura 06:45–07:00 BST 4 min 1 stotality Leftwindow 32–33°Sun up
- LGW to LPAGatwick to Gran Canaria 06:45–07:05 BST 4 min 3 stotality Leftwindow 31–32°Sun up
- MAN to AGAManchester to Agadir 06:50–07:05 BST 4 min 16 stotality Leftwindow 35–36°Sun up
- LGW to ACEGatwick to Lanzarote 06:50–07:10 BST 4 min 7 stotality Leftwindow 32–33°Sun up
- LGW to RAKGatwick to Marrakesh 07:05–07:25 BST 4 min 22 stotality Leftwindow 36–37°Sun up
- AMS to TFSAmsterdam to Tenerife South 07:25–07:40 CEST 3 min 58 stotality Leftwindow 31–32°Sun up
- CDG to RAKParis to Marrakesh 08:20–08:35 CEST 4 min 14 stotality Leftwindow 37–38°Sun up
- MAD to TFSMadrid to Tenerife South 09:20–09:40 CEST 4 min 6 stotality Leftwindow 33–35°Sun up
So close: no totality in the airThese flights are still just north of the path when the shadow passes. Málaga itself is inside it: about 2 minutes of totality from the ground.
Egypt and Arabia: the Sun is too highThe eclipse comes near midday there, overhead or straight ahead of the plane: a window sees a partial at most.
Night flights and the New Year's Eve 2028 blood moon
31 Dec 2028The total lunar eclipse of 31 December 2028 is seen wherever the Moon is up. Take off inside the window and you see the whole blood moon from the side shown.
72 min
of blood moon, seen whole from the air
10:25–16:00
take-off, London to Dubai (GMT)
Left
from London, on every route here; right flying home
No glasses
a lunar eclipse is safe to watch
- LHR to DELHeathrow to Delhi 09:35–10:15 GMT 72 minblood moon Leftwindow 60–65°high: press close
- LHR to DXBHeathrow to Dubai 10:25–16:00 GMT 72 minblood moon Leftwindow 19–49°Moon up
- LHR to DOHHeathrow to Doha 10:45–16:00 GMT 72 minblood moon Leftwindow 19–46°Moon up
- LHR to JNBHeathrow to Johannesburg 11:40–16:00 GMT 72 minblood moon Leftwindow 11–12°low: near the horizon
- DXB to LHRDubai to Heathrow 14:25–20:00 GST 72 minblood moon Rightwindow 11–44°Moon up
Part of itNo take-off time shows all 72 minutes from a side window: on the way, the Moon climbs too high or swings in front of the plane. The best take-off time for each:
Three flights, explained
Examples
Partial solarOpen this check
Partial solarOpen this check
Total lunar · blood moonOpen this check
Gatwick to Málaga
2 Aug 2027 · take-off 07:30 BST
99.9% of the Sun covered at 09:49 BST, from the left windows, just before landing (Sun 39° up). The plane is still just north of the path when the shadow passes, so totality stays out of reach in the air; Málaga airport itself has about 2 minutes of it.
Gatwick to Hurghada
2 Aug 2027 · take-off 06:00 BST
In the air during a 98.7% eclipse, but the Sun is almost straight overhead (80°): you won't see it from a window seat. It is still on when you land: watch the rest from the ground, with eclipse glasses.
Heathrow to Dubai
New Year's Eve 2028 · take-off 15:00 GMT
The whole blood moon, 16:16–17:28 GMT, from the left windows, the Moon rising from 7° to 25° over central and eastern Europe.
Every eclipse, any flight
Next 10Solar eclipses are seen from a narrow strip of the Earth for a few hours; lunar eclipses from the whole night side, so long-haul night flights often catch one. Pick a date to check your flight, or open the eclipse for city times and maps.
Questions people ask
FAQCan you see a solar eclipse from a plane?
Yes, when the Sun is on your side of the plane and not too high. At cruising height you are above most cloud, so the weather rarely gets in the way. The checker gives you the side and the Sun's height for your exact flight.
Which flights see the 2 August 2027 eclipse?
Morning flights from the UK and Ireland to the Canary Islands, Madeira and Morocco that take off between about 06:30 and 07:25 (UK and Irish time) fly through the path of totality over the Atlantic, with up to 4 min 22 s of totality from a left-hand window. Morning flights from London to Málaga reach about 99.9% in the air, because they are still just north of the path when the shadow passes; Málaga itself is inside the path, with about 2 minutes of totality from the ground.
Which side of the plane should I sit on?
The side the Sun or Moon is on at that moment, which depends on your route's direction. On 2 August 2027, morning flights from the UK and Ireland to Spain, Portugal, Morocco and the Canaries have the Sun on the left.
Can I type the airport code?
Yes. Type the three-letter code from your boarding pass (LHR, LGW), the airport's name (Heathrow, Gatwick) or just the city: London lists all six London airports.
Is it safe to watch through the aircraft window?
Only with certified eclipse glasses: a window is not a filter. Keep them on for the partial phases. If your flight passes through totality, take them off only while the Sun is completely covered, and put them back on as the light returns.
Can I see a lunar eclipse from a plane?
Often, especially on night flights: a lunar eclipse is seen wherever the Moon is up, which is half the planet. It is safe to watch with your eyes. Turn off your reading light and look out on the side the checker gives you.
What if the Sun is too high or straight ahead?
Above about 50° it is hard to see from a side window, and above about 65° it is almost overhead. Straight ahead or behind is out of view too. The checker says so, and you may still see it on the ground after landing.
How accurate is it?
We assume the direct route at a typical cruising height and speed, about 15 minutes from your departure time to wheels-up and 10 minutes from landing to the gate. Real routes bend around weather and airspace, and take-offs slip, so treat the times as a few minutes either way, and check again in the week of your flight.
More from the eclipse tracker
Cite this toolOrbital Radar, Eclipse flight checker, https://orbitalradar.com/eclipses/flight-checker (updated 27 October 2026). Route windows computed for each take-off time in 5-minute steps on the eclipse day.
Times computed byOrbital Radar's eclipse engine· for each flight, when you ask