This repository provides a ForeFlight content pack containing a custom KML map layer displaying world time zones with clean UTC offset labels. This overlay helps pilots quickly identify time zone boundaries and offsets during flight planning—whether for international operations or domestic flights crossing zones—improving situational awareness for crew duty times, fuel stops, NOTAM validity, and coordination with ATC or ground services.
The content pack integrates as a user layer in ForeFlight, with individual toggles for each time zone.
Current version: 2025.12
Key feature:
When you tap a time zone on the map (or its entry in the Places panel), a rich info balloon appears with detailed information including the standard time zone name, example major cities, DST observance, and military phonetic designation.
This content pack provides top-level toggleable placemarks for major world time zones, optimized for ForeFlight.
Features:
- Clean on-map labels showing only the UTC offset (e.g., "UTC-05:00")
- Individual toggles in the Places panel for selective display
- Rich HTML info balloons on tap with:
- UTC offset
- Common time zone name
- Example cities
- DST status (Yes/No/Varies)
- Military phonetic code (Alpha through Zulu)
This extra detail on click makes the layer valuable for quick reference without cluttering the map.
Download the ready-to-import ForeFlight content pack here:
Timezones.zip
The original base time zone polygons are from the OpenLayers Project (open-source mapping library):
A comprehensive world time zones KML with each zone as a separate polygon feature, including attributes like 'tz-offset' for styling (e.g., opacity based on local time). Polygons are distinct objects, enabling per-zone interaction.
Source: timezones.kml (raw file)
The underlying time zone data is derived from public sources, commonly based on the IANA Time Zone Database (tzdata).
This content pack enhances the base KML with:
- Top-level placemarks (no folders) for individual toggling in ForeFlight
- Clean UTC offset labels
- Rich HTML descriptions with time zone name, cities, DST info, and military code
These modifications were scripted to create a ForeFlight-optimized reference layer.
The pack covers major standard time zones, including half-hour offsets where present in the base data. Examples include:
| Offset | Common Name | Example Cities | DST? | Military |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC-12:00 | International Date Line West | Baker Island | No | Yankee |
| UTC-11:00 | Samoa Standard Time | Pago Pago | No | X-ray |
| UTC-10:00 | Hawaii-Aleutian Time | Honolulu | No | Whiskey |
| UTC-09:00 | Alaska Standard Time | Anchorage | Yes | Victor |
| UTC-08:00 | Pacific Standard Time | Los Angeles | Yes | Uniform |
| UTC-07:00 | Mountain Standard Time | Denver | Yes | Tango |
| UTC-06:00 | Central Standard Time | Chicago | Yes | Sierra |
| UTC-05:00 | Eastern Standard Time | New York | Yes | Romeo |
| UTC-04:00 | Atlantic Standard Time | Halifax | Varies | Quebec |
| UTC-03:00 | Brazil/Argentina Time | São Paulo | No | Papa |
| UTC+00:00 | UTC / Greenwich Mean Time | London | Varies | Zulu |
| UTC+01:00 | Central European Time | Paris | Yes | Alpha |
| UTC+02:00 | Eastern European Time | Athens | Varies | Bravo |
| UTC+03:00 | Moscow / East Africa Time | Moscow | No | Charlie |
| UTC+08:00 | China Standard Time | Beijing | No | Hotel |
| UTC+09:00 | Japan / Korea Time | Tokyo | No | India |
| UTC+10:00 | Australian Eastern Time | Sydney | Yes | Kilo |
Half-hour and quarter-hour zones use generic details.
Detailed instructions: ForeFlight Content Packs Support.
- Download
Timezones.zipfrom the link above. - In ForeFlight: More > User Content > Add Content Pack.
- Select the downloaded ZIP file.
- Enable the layer in Maps > Layers.
Tap any time zone for full details—great for planning and situational awareness on cross-country or international flights!