Taylor Swift has already logged plenty of miles traveling the world on her record-breaking Eras Tour, and she could soon add over 5,500 more on a one-way trip.
That’s assuming the pop star makes the journey from the stage in Tokyo, where she’ll be performing on Feb. 10, to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs play in the Super Bowl the following day.
With the Chiefs taking down the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Kansas City will be making its fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. The Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers in the marquee matchup at 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 11.
It’s fair to figure Swift will try to attend, considering she’s been a regular presence at Kelce’s games since the two debuted their relationship in the fall. But the travel schedule to catch the season finale will be a grind.
With a nighttime show to close four days in Japan, Swift will have to hustle to get across the Pacific Ocean and back to the states in time for kickoff.
So, can she make it?
In short, yes. The 17-hour time difference works in her favor and means Swift could get to Las Vegas with plenty of time to spare.
But there are considerations, such as weather patterns and the crowded Las Vegas airports on Super Bowl weekend, that could factor in.
Here’s how it might work.
Swift performs four shows at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on consecutive nights from Feb. 7-10 before heading to Australia for shows starting Feb. 16. Doors open at 4 p.m. local time for her Tokyo concert, with the show starting at 6 p.m. She typically opens her set about two hours after the scheduled start time. However, no openers have been announced for her Tokyo tour dates, meaning she could go on close to 6 p.m.
Assuming that’s the case, and with her concerts lasting roughly three and a half hours, she would wrap the show around 9:30 p.m.
If she leaves from Haneda Airport, which is the closest airport to the Tokyo Dome at a roughly 25-minute drive, with additional time to account for concert traffic and flight check-in, Swift could then be wheels up to Las Vegas an hour later.
According to Business Insider, Swift has two multimillion-dollar private jets — a Dassault Falcon 7X and a Dassault Falcon 900 — that were heavily used during the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour.
Falcon lists its 900LX model as having a range of 4,750 nautical miles. The 7X model has a longer range of 5,906 nautical miles. The distance between Haneda Airport and Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, located near Allegiant Stadium, is 4,821 nautical miles (5,548 miles). So, for this exercise, it would make sense for Swift to opt for the 7X.
An account manager at Paramount Business Jets — which offers worldwide private jet charter flights, including on the 7X, but is not affiliated with Swift’s plans — estimated the trip from Haneda Airport to Harry Reid International Airport would take about 10 to 10 1/2 hours on that aircraft.
That means Swift could leave at 10:30 p.m. in Tokyo and, because of the time change, arrive around 4 p.m. in Las Vegas on Feb. 10, a full day before the game.
However, the account manager, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that as of Friday, there were no slots available to land in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend.
“I have four clients who wanted to fly in for the Super Bowl and we had to cancel their trips because nobody is able to get the proper times to land in Las Vegas,” the account manager said.
“The way that I got it explained by operators is that (they) don’t have any more availability at any of the Las Vegas airports that can receive a jet, whether it’s private or whether it’s commercial. When I say commercial, that’s someone renting an airplane to fly,” the account manager continued.
The Paramount Business Jets account manager said the plans would have to have been in place “potentially a couple of months ago” to ensure the slots to land or depart in Las Vegas that weekend.
“We know it’s going to be busy,” Harry Reid International Airport spokesperson Melissa DeFrank said. “We’ve been preparing for it for quite a while now, but … Super Bowl weekend is always busy in Las Vegas. We’re pretty well-prepared to handle a lot of traffic.”
Airlines are also preparing for a surge in demand. American Airlines even coded their flights in honor of the Chiefs and Swift. American added seven direct flights from Feb. 8-13 arriving at either Harry Reid International Airport or Kansas City International Airport. Three of those are No. 15, named for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who wears jersey No. 15. Two are No. 1989, a nod to Swift’s chart-topping album. One is No. 87 — Kelce’s jersey number — and another is 1521, a combination of Mahomes and safety Mike Edwards’ jersey numbers.
“The excitement surrounding this year’s sporting events has never been greater,” American Airlines said in a statement. “You could say that after (Sunday’s) games, we are in our football era, and we are thrilled to provide direct flights from Kansas City to Las Vegas. To our customers who are huge sports fans, look what you made us do.”
It’s unclear whether Swift would still be able to land in Las Vegas. An email to her publicist regarding the plans was not immediately returned.
Even if Swift is unable to land in Las Vegas, however, she could fly into Los Angeles — to either LAX or Van Nuys Airport — and drive the rest of the way.
In that scenario, the flight would be roughly 45 minutes shorter to Los Angeles, meaning a flight of about 9 hours and 45 minutes. So Swift could theoretically make it to L.A. and through customs around 3:30 p.m. local time.
A drive from LAX to Allegiant Stadium takes four to five hours, depending on stops and traffic. In that scenario, she’d still get to Vegas by 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, with lots of time for pregame activities.
Or much-needed sleep.
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(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
