Traveling Back In Time: Iconic Flights That Left In 2026, And Arrived In 2025.

January 2026: As the world celebrates the New Year on the Gregorian calendar, a unique phenomenon occurs each January 01st, where many flights depart from Asia or Oceania in 2026 and arrive in North America and other Pacific Island nations the year prior (December 31). This is caused by the International Date Line, an invisible boundary that follows the 180th meridian.

When the calendar flips to the next day, if you fly east across it, you would arrive on the previous date. A list of such flights that travelled back in time this year are as hereunder:

• Air New Zealand (NZ946) Auckland to Rarotonga
• All Nippon Airways (NH106) Tokyo Haneda to Los Angeles (LAX)
• Cathay Pacific (CX88) Hong Kong to Los Angeles
• Hainan Airlines (HU7959) Shenzhen to Vancouver
• Samoa Airways (OL222) Apia Fagali’i to Pago Pago
• United Airlines (UA200) Guam to Honolulu

This means that those blessed to travel in these flights literally celebrated New Year’s Eve twice!

Team Maverick.