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DXB → NBO

Dubai to Nairobi: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Dubai to Jomo Kenyatta is 3,559 km of great circle — 2,212 mi — and an estimated 4h 55m in the air. It crosses from Asia to Africa.

Great circle
3,559 km
2,212 mi
Estimated in the air
4h 55m
block time
Furthest from equator
25.2°N
at 0% along
One lap of Earth
8.9%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 158th longest.

The Dubai to Nairobi route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

What the aircraft actually flies over

From Dubai the path crosses United Arab Emirates, then Saudi Arabia, then Yemen, then 400 km of open water, then Somaliland, then Ethiopia, then Kenya.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 25.2°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.

The heading barely moves: south-west out of Dubai, south-west into Nairobi. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass.

From

DXB

Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Asia

25.2°N, 55.4°E

To

NBO

Jomo Kenyatta

Nairobi, Kenya · Africa

1.3°S, 36.9°E

Dubai to Nairobi, asked and answered

How far is Dubai to Nairobi?
Dubai to Nairobi (DXB to NBO) is 3,559 km, or 2,212 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from Dubai to Nairobi?
About 4h 55m 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 Dubai to Nairobi flight take?
The great circle passes over United Arab Emirates, then Saudi Arabia, then Yemen, then 400 km of open water, then Somaliland, then Ethiopia, then Kenya. It reaches 25.2°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 →

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