- Great circle
- 1,837 km
- 1,141 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 2h 47m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 50.0°N
- at 0% along
- One lap of Earth
- 4.6%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 206th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From Frankfurt the path crosses Germany, then Austria, then Hungary, then Serbia, then Romania, then Bulgaria.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 50.0°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 Frankfurt the aircraft points south-east (114°); it arrives into Istanbul heading south-east (129°). That is 15° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.
Frankfurt to Istanbul, asked and answered
- How far is Frankfurt to Istanbul?
- Frankfurt to Istanbul (FRA to IST) is 1,837 km, or 1,141 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from Frankfurt to Istanbul?
- About 2h 47m 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 Frankfurt to Istanbul flight take?
- The great circle passes over Germany, then Austria, then Hungary, then Serbia, then Romania, then Bulgaria. It reaches 50.0°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.
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