---
title: "Paris to Istanbul (CDG → IST): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Paris to Istanbul is 2,212 km (1,374 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 15m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-ist
---

CDG → IST

# Paris to Istanbul: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Charles de Gaulle to İstanbul is 2,212 km of great circle — 1,374 mi — and an estimated 3h 15m in the air. Both ends are in Europe.

**Great circle**
2,212 km
1,374 mi

**Estimated in the air**
3h 15m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
49.0°N
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
5.5%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 189th longest.

The Paris to Istanbul route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Paris the path crosses France, then Germany, then Austria, then Croatia, then Serbia, then Bulgaria, then Turkey.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 49.0°N, 0% of the way along.

Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.

Leaving Paris the aircraft points east (103°); it arrives into Istanbul heading south-east (122°). That is 19° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

One economy seat on it is about 328 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[CDG–IST carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=CDG&to=IST) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=CDG-IST)

From

CDG

## Charles de Gaulle

Paris, France · Europe

49.0°N, 2.6°E

[CDG airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/cdg) [Flights to Paris →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/paris)

To

IST

## İstanbul

Istanbul, Turkey · Europe

41.3°N, 28.7°E

[IST airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/ist) [Flights to Istanbul →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/istanbul)

## Paris to Istanbul, asked and answered

**How far is Paris to Istanbul?**
Paris to Istanbul (CDG to IST) is 2,212 km, or 1,374 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Paris to Istanbul?**
About 3h 15m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.

**What route does a Paris to Istanbul flight take?**
The great circle passes over France, then Germany, then Austria, then Croatia, then Serbia, then Bulgaria, then Turkey. It reaches 49.0°N at its furthest from the equator.

## Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

[Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[LHR → IST London to Istanbul 2,487 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ist) [CDG → CMN Paris to Casablanca 1,931 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-cmn) [OTP → CDG Bucharest to Paris 1,851 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/otp-to-cdg) [FRA → IST Frankfurt to Istanbul 1,837 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-ist) [IST → DXB Istanbul to Dubai 3,030 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ist-to-dxb) [IST → CAI Istanbul to Cairo 1,264 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ist-to-cai)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-ist for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt