CabinShade
Which side of the plane gets the sun?
CabinShade tracks the sun along your flight path and tells you which window seat stays in the shade, so you can keep the blind open for the whole trip, or which side gets the sunset.
Free, no sign-up, 6,700+ airports worldwide. Search by airport code or city.
Which side of the plane should I sit on to avoid the sun?
In the Northern Hemisphere the sun stays in the southern sky for most of the day, so:
- Flying east, the sun is on the right. Sit on the left (seat A) for shade.
- Flying west, the sun is on the left. Sit on the right (F or K).
- Flying north or south, the morning sun is in the east and the afternoon sun in the west. Flying north, sit left (A) in the morning and right (F/K) in the afternoon. Flying south, the other way round.
- South of the equator (Australia, South America, southern Africa), flip the east/west advice.
Long flights, summer evenings and routes near the tropics break these rules, which is why the calculator follows your actual route. Read the full guide.
Popular routes
All routes →The shady side for every departure time and season, worked out in advance.
- LAX → JFKLos Angeles to New York
- JFK → SFONew York to San Francisco
- LHR → LAXLondon to Los Angeles
- HND → JFKTokyo to New York
- ORD → LAXChicago to Los Angeles
- SFO → EWRSan Francisco to New York
- LAX → NRTLos Angeles to Tokyo
- SIN → MELSingapore to Melbourne
- TPE → SFOTaipei to San Francisco
- HKG → LAXHong Kong to Los Angeles
- JFK → LHRNew York to London
- LAX → DFWLos Angeles to Dallas
