Distance between airports
Great-circle distance between any two IATA codes — in kilometers, miles, and nautical miles.
How airport distance is calculated
We use the Haversine formula with each airport's latitude and longitude (from OpenFlights data, ~6,000 airports worldwide). It computes the great-circle distance — the shortest line between two points on a sphere — which is what aircraft try to follow when ATC and weather allow.
distance = 2 × R × asin( √(sin²(Δϕ/2) + cos ϕ₁ × cos ϕ₂ × sin²(Δλ/2) ) )Where R is Earth's radius (6,371 km).
For most routes, the great-circle is within 2–5% of the actual flight path. Long-haul routes deviate more because of jet streams (eastbound flights are often shorter in time but longer in distance) and restricted airspace.
Common uses
- Flight time estimates distance / 850 km/h + 30 min ≈ block time
- Emissions / footprint rough kg CO₂ per passenger ≈ 0.115 × km
- Frequent flyer miles most programs award miles based on great-circle distance
- Price benchmarking $/km is a useful sanity check across airlines
Frequently asked questions
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The shortest distance between two points on a sphere, measured along the surface. Aircraft fly close to great-circle paths because they're the shortest route. The formula used is the Haversine formula, which is accurate to within about 0.5% across all distances.
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Air traffic control routes, prevailing winds, restricted airspace, and waypoint navigation cause flights to deviate from the great-circle path. Actual flight distance is typically 2–5% longer than great-circle.
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A common approximation is to divide the distance by 850 km/h (a typical commercial cruise speed) and add 30 minutes for taxi, takeoff, and landing. For more precise estimates, use our Flight time calculator.
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Kilometres for general use and most international audiences; statute miles for US-domestic context; nautical miles for aviation, navigation, and frequent-flyer mileage tables. 1 nm = 1.852 km = 1.151 mi.