When to phone Antarctica (+672)
Antarctica has no single time zone — stations operate on their home country's time or UTC. Research and logistics contacts are best reached during their local station hours, 8 AM–6 PM.
Multiple time zones, at a glance.
Antarctic stations typically use their home nation's time zone or the nearest logistics hub. McMurdo (US/NZ) uses NZST (UTC+13); Concordia (France/Italy) uses UTC+8; Vostok uses UTC+6.
Antarctica against the world's hubs.
McMurdo Station is 13 h ahead of London (same as New Zealand). Concordia Station is 8 h ahead of London. Check the specific station's published time zone before calling.
Understanding the time difference between the United States and Antarctica
Time zone differences across other major countries
Why timing matters for calls to Antarctica.
Research station communications are limited by satellite window times — typically 1–4 hours per day for voice in deep field locations. Coordinating with the station's communication officer ensures successful connections.
The best windows to reach Antarctic stations.
Most stations have a daily communications window during their local morning (8 AM–12 PM station time). Contact the national Antarctic program's coordination centre for station-specific satellite schedules.
Antarctica runs at +12:00
The zone is Antarctica/McMurdo. Every window on this page is worked out from that offset rather than a rule of thumb, so the times shown are the ones that actually apply to Antarctica.
Clocks change here
Antarctica observes daylight saving, shifting to +13:00 in its summer. A window that works in January moves by an hour later in the year, so re-check before scheduling a recurring call.
Shared hours with 2 of 5 markets
Callers in Mumbai, Sydney share part of the working day with Antarctica. The table above gives the exact intersection for each.
Where the gap is too wide
There is no 9-to-5 overlap with New York, Los Angeles, London. Calling Antarctica from those cities means someone is working outside normal hours — worth saying so when you book the call.
How to call Antarctic stations using the +672 code.
Dial +672 then the station-assigned number, or use the national program's satellite line. Ringflow routes via approved satellite corridors for Antarctic station connectivity.
Number anatomy
Dial exit code
Press + on mobile or 00 from most landlines. This opens an international line.
Enter +672
Antarctica's international code. Every call to Antarctica must start with +672.
Area prefix
Add the local area or mobile network code — always drop any leading zero used for domestic calls.
Full number
Dial the remaining subscriber digits. Your number is now correctly formatted for international routing.
Best time to call — every country.
Jump to any country's best-time-to-call guide. Search by name, ISO or dial prefix.
Reach Antarctic stations through authorized satellite routes.
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When your working day overlaps Antarctica
Callers in Mumbai and Sydney share part of the working day with Antarctica. There is no shared working window with New York, Los Angeles and London.
| Calling from | Antarctica is | Call at (your time) | Which is (their time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 18h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| Los Angeles | 21h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| London | 13h ahead | No shared working hours — you would need to call outside 9am-5pm | |
| Mumbai | 7h 30m ahead | 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM |
| Sydney | 2h ahead | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Windows are the intersection of a 9am-5pm working day in each place, using Antarctica'sstandard-time offset of +12:00. Antarctica observes daylight saving, so during its summer the offset moves to +13:00 and each window shifts by an hour.
FAQ
Calling Antarctica, answered.
Time zone, daylight saving and dialling questions for Antarctica (+672).